Human rights group says sexual violence is widespread in Sudan’s civil war

SAMY MAGDY, Associated Press

14 minutes ago

FILE – Sudanese soldiers from the Rapid Support Forces unit, led by Gen. Mohammed Hamdan Dagalo, the deputy head of the military council, secure the area where Dagalo is attending a military-backed tribal meeting, in East Nile province, Sudan, June 22, 2019. An international human rights group accused the paramilitary group in war-torn Sudan on Monday of sexual violence against women, including rape, gang rape, and forced and child marriage. A smaller number of incidents were also attributed to the military, it said. (AP Photo/Hussein Malla, File)

CAIRO (AP) — An international rights group on Monday accused a paramilitary group in war-torn Sudan of sexual violence against women, including rape, gang rape and forced and child marriages. A smaller number of incidents were also blamed on the military, it said.

Human Rights Watch has called on the United Nations and the African Union to set up a joint mission to protect civilians in Sudan, as fighting between the army and the paramilitary Rapid Support Forces shows no signs of abating after more than 15 months.

“The Rapid Support Forces have raped, gang-raped and forced marriages of scores of women and girls in residential areas of Sudan’s capital,” said Laetitia Bader, deputy Africa director at Human Rights Watch.

The group also accused both warring sides of blocking survivors’ access to critical emergency aid, saying the military has “deliberately” restricted the delivery of humanitarian supplies to RSF-controlled areas since October last year, including medical supplies and aid workers.

Meanwhile, the RSF has looted medical supplies and occupied medical facilities, the group said. RSF fighters have also committed sexual violence against service providers, the group said, citing local aid workers.

Sudan descended into chaos in April last year when simmering tensions between the army and the RSF erupted into open fighting in the capital, Khartoum, and elsewhere in the country. The UN says more than 14,000 people have been killed and 33,000 others wounded in the fighting, but human rights activists say the true death toll could be much higher.

The conflict has led to the world’s largest refugee crisis, with more than 11 million people forced to flee their homes.

The RSF, which was previously a military force, emerged from the Janjaweed militias formed during the Darfur conflict in the 2000s by former President Omar al-Bashir. He ruled the country for three decades until being ousted in a popular uprising in 2019. He is wanted by the International Criminal Court on charges of genocide and other crimes committed during the conflict.

In a report released Sunday, Human Rights Watch said it documented widespread sexual violence, as well as forced and child marriage during the conflict in Khartoum and the nearby cities of Omdurman and Bahri, or Khartoum North. The three cities are known as Greater Khartoum.

These acts constitute “war crimes and crimes against humanity,” the report said.

The group said most of the cases were attributed to the Rapid Support Forces, but some were also attributed to the military, particularly as the army retained control of Omdurman earlier this year. It said men and boys were also raped, including in detention.

Both the RSF and the military did not immediately respond to requests for comment.

According to Human Rights Watch, neither side has taken meaningful steps to prevent its troops from committing rape or attacking health care, nor has either side conducted independent and transparent investigations into crimes committed by its troops.

According to the organization, an RSF spokesman denied that any hospitals or medical centers in Khartoum and its sister cities had been occupied. However, no evidence was provided that the group had effectively investigated allegations of sexual violence by its troops.

It called on the African Union and the United Nations to jointly set up a new mission to protect civilians in Sudan, including preventing sexual and gender-based violence.

“The United Nations and the African Union must mobilize this protection and states must hold accountable those responsible for the ongoing sexual violence, attacks on local aid workers, health facilities and the blocking of aid,” Bader said.

Clashes were reported over the weekend in eastern Sudan and in the town of al-Fasher, the army’s last stronghold in the vast western region of Darfur. The RSF has been besieging al-Fasher for months in an attempt to seize control.

International experts warned last month that 755,000 people face famine in the coming months and 8.5 million people face extreme food shortages.