Khartoum , July 29(Darfur 24)Human Rights Watch (HRW) said on Monday that the Rapid Support Forces RSF committed widespread acts of sexual violence in areas under their control in Khartoum, which constitute war crimes and crimes against humanity.
The organization published a report entitled: “Khartoum is no longer safe for women: Sexual violence against women and girls in Sudan’s capital,” which documents widespread sexual violence, in addition to forced marriage and child marriage during the conflict, in Khartoum and other cities.
Human Rights Watch said that the warring parties in Sudan, especially the Rapid Support Forces, have committed widespread rape, including gang rape, since the beginning of the current conflict, and forced women and girls to marry in Khartoum.
She said she interviewed 42 health care providers, social workers, psychologists, lawyers, and local emergency responders between September 2023 and February 2024.
She reported that 18 health care providers who provided direct medical care or psychosocial support to victims of sexual violence, or managed individual incidents, said they had treated a total of 262 victims of sexual violence, aged 9 to 60, between the start of the conflict in April 2023 and February 2024.
“I slept with a knife under my pillow for months, fearing that RSF raids would lead to rape,” a 20-year-old woman living in an area controlled by the RSF told Human Rights Watch in early 2024. “Since this war started, it has become unsafe for a woman to live in Khartoum under RSF control.”
The physical, emotional, social, and psychological scars suffered by the victims are immense, Human Rights Watch found.
“Health care workers met victims seeking help for severe physical injuries sustained during rape and gang rape. At least four women died as a result,” it added.
“Many victims who sought to terminate their pregnancies resulting from rape faced significant barriers to accessing abortion care. Victims described or exhibited symptoms consistent with post-traumatic stress and depression, including suicidal thoughts, anxiety, fear, and insomnia.”
“I spoke to a rape victim who had just discovered she was three months pregnant. She was clearly traumatized, shaken, and afraid of her family’s reaction,” a psychiatrist told the organization. “She told me, ‘If they find out about my condition, they will kill me.’”
Human Rights Watch confirmed that the Rapid Support Forces have abducted women and girls and detained them in homes and other facilities they have occupied in Khartoum, Bahri, and Omdurman, subjecting them to sexual violence and other abuses.
“Sometimes, members of the Rapid Support Forces sexually assaulted women and girls in front of their family members. The Rapid Support Forces also forced women and girls into marriage,” she added.
The report said that fewer cases of sexual violence were attributed to the military, while a slight increase in cases was reported after it took control of Omdurman in early 2024, with men and boys also being raped, including in detention.
Human Rights Watch said that sexual violence, such as forced marriage, when committed as part of a widespread or systematic attack on a civilian population, as is happening in Sudan, can be investigated and prosecuted as a crime against humanity.
It stressed that the deliberate obstruction or arbitrary restriction of humanitarian aid is also a crime under international humanitarian law, and that looting and attacks targeting civilians, including health care workers and first responders, constitute war crimes.
It stressed that deliberately directing attacks against humanitarian assistance operations, including personnel, buildings, and vehicles, also constitutes a separate war crime subject to prosecution under the “Statute of the International Criminal Court.”
Human Rights Watch found that neither side in the conflict has taken meaningful steps to prevent their forces from committing rape or attacking health care facilities, or to independently and transparently investigate crimes committed by their forces.
The African Union and the United Nations should work together to deploy a new mission to protect civilians in Sudan, including to prevent sexual and gender-based violence, support comprehensive service delivery to all victims, and document conflict-related sexual violence.
The mission should be given a mandate and the capacity to monitor and facilitate access to humanitarian assistance.
The organization called on international donors to urgently increase political and financial support for local responders.
It called on countries to impose targeted sanctions on commanders responsible for sexual violence, attacks on health care workers, and local responders.
“The Rapid Support Forces have raped, gang-raped, and forced marriages of scores of women and girls in residential areas of the Sudanese capital,” said Laetitia Bader, deputy Africa director at Human Rights Watch.
“The armed group has terrorized women and girls, and the warring parties have prevented them from accessing assistance and support services, exacerbating the harm they face and making them feel that there is no safe place,” she added.