from RAJI BASHIR in Khartoum, Sudan
Sudan Bureau
KHARTOUM, (CAJ News) – THE prevalence of sexual violence adds a gruesome dimension to the war crimes perpetrated by rivals groups in Sudan.
These, including rape and sex slavery, are escalating with no end in sight to the war that began in April.
Amnesty International has detailed the violations in a report, “The report, ‘Death Came To Our Home’: War Crimes and Civilian Suffering in Sudan”, released on Thursday.
The human rights organisation reports that scores of women and girls, some as young as 12, have been subjected to sexual violence by members of the warring sides, chiefly the Rapid Support Forces (RSF) and Sudanese Armed Forces (SAF) around the country.
Some militia are blamed for these crimes in Darfur, where the conflict is largely ethnic.
Some females have during the conflicts been held for days in conditions of sexual slavery.
A 25-year-old woman from El Geneina is quoted recounting how three armed Arab men in civilian clothes forced her into a Civil Records building in the al-Jamarik neighbourhood, where they raped her.
She is reportedly struggling to cope with the possibility of pregnancy.
In another case, a group of 24 women and girls were abducted by RSF members and taken to a hotel where they were held for several days in conditions amounting to sexual slavery.
Many survivors reportedly have had no access to medical and psychosocial support.
It is estimated 3 000 civilians have been killed in the conflict.
Amnesty International is calling on the United Nations Security Council to swiftly extend the arms embargo that currently applies to Darfur to the whole of Sudan, and ensure it is enforced.
“Countries with significant leverage over the warring parties must use their influence to end the violations,” said Agnès Callamard, Amnesty International’s Secretary General.
– CAJ News