Human Rights Group Charges Sudanese Paramilitary of Sexual Violence During Current Conflict

On Monday, an international rights group accused a paramilitary group engaged in forced and child marriage as well as rape and gang rape of women in war-torn Sudan. The group also attributed a lesser amount of occurrences to the military.

More than 15 months of military conflict between the military and the paramilitary Rapid Support Forces (RSF) indicate not to be abating, Human Rights Watch demanded that the United Nations and the African Union form a combined mission to safeguard civilians in Sudan.

Laetitia Bader, Deputy Africa Director at Human Rights Watch, said, “The Rapid Support Forces have raped, gang-raped, and forced into marriage countless women and girls in residential areas in Sudan’s capital.”

Declaring that the military had “willingly restricted” shipments of humanitarian goods to RSF-controlled areas, including medical supplies and aid workers, the group also accused both warring parties of limiting survivors’ access to needed emergency care.

While this is going on, the RSF has been pillaging medical supplies and occupying medical facilities according to the report. Local responders said that RSF fighters also sexually assaulted service providers.

In April last year, Sudan descended into anarchy as a simmering military- RSF conflict erupted into open warfare in the capital, Khartoum, and other parts of the nation. The U.N. estimates that the conflict has claimed over 14,000 lives and injured 33,000 more; rights advocates claim the actual toll may be considerably higher.

With almost 11 million people driven from their homes, the conflict has generated the biggest displacement disaster in the world.

Originally military-aligned, the RSF developed out of the Janjaweed militias established by former President Omar al-Bashir, who oversaw Darfur for three decades until he was toppled amid a public revolt in 2019. He is sought for allegations of genocide and other crimes carried out throughout the conflict by the International Criminal Court.

Human Rights Watch recorded extensive sexual abuse as well as forced and underage marriage during the fighting in Khartoum and the surrounding cities of Omdurman and Bahri, or Khartoum North, in a report published Sunday. Greater Khartoum is the three city names taken together.

The study concluded these deeds are “war crimes and crimes against humanity.”

The Rapid Support Forces accounted for most of the cases. Some, meanwhile, were also blamed on the military, particularly because the military still controlled Omdurman earlier this year. Men and boys have also been raped, said the report, including in custody.

The military and the RSF did not answer calls for comments right away

Human Rights Watch claimed neither side has taken significant action to stop its troops from targeting medical institutions or committing rape nor to independently and honestly probe crimes carried out by their forces.

Although an RSF official denied occupying hospitals or medical facilities in Khartoum and its sister cities, he could not offer proof that the group has conducted thorough inquiries into claims of sexual abuse by its forces.

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Human Rights Watch urged the United Nations and the African Union to send a new mission together to safeguard Sudanese citizens especially against sexual and gender-based abuse.

“The United Nations and African Union need to mobilize this protection and states should hold to account those responsible for ongoing sexual violence, attacks on local responders, health facilities, and blocking of aid,” Bader said.

Over the weekend, conflicts were recorded in eastern Sudan as well as in the military’s last stronghold in the vast western area of Darfur, Al-Fasher. For months the RSF has besieged al-Fasher in an attempt to take over.

Last month, international experts issued warnings regarding extreme food shortages and 755,000 people suffering famine in the next months.