The United Nations mission has delivered a shocking revelation concerning Sudan’s Rapid Support Forces (RSF) and their affiliates’ involvement in widespread and horrifying sexual misconduct. As troops advanced and even as sex slaves during the year and a half long war, the mission revealed that civilians were subjected to sexual violation.
With victims spanning from as young as eight to as old as 75, the report established that the majority of sexual crimes were perpetrated by the RSF and corresponding Arab militia in a campaign of terror and punishment targeting those suspected of affiliation with their adversaries. “In Sudan, we’ve uncovered a shocking extent of sexual abuse,” declared Mohamed Chande Othman, the mission’s chair, as he released an exhaustive 80-page report grounded in interviews with survivors, their families, and witnesses.
Reuters and other human rights organisations had corroborated the findings of such widespread sexual abuse in the tumultuous region in earlier inquiries. The RSF, currently engaged in combat with Sudan’s military, has not responded immediately to requests for a reaction. However, it has professed earlier that it would scrutinize the allegations and seek justice against the culprits.
Linked to the notorious Janjaweed militias, the RSF helped suppress a revolt in Sudan’s western Darfur region some twenty years ago. Presently, the RSF has positioned itself as the ruling power in significant territories of Sudan, including West Darfur, where it is believed to be executing ethnic massacre against the Masalit community, with Arab militias as accomplices.
Racist taunts aimed at non-Arabs have been reportedly common during sexual assaults in regions of West Darfur, indicative of ethnically-targeted violence, as per the UN mission’s findings. A case was cited where an RSF guard told a Masalit woman he was raping at gunpoint that he was going to impregnate her to make her bear Arab children. There was another instance where an RSF guard kept a woman from West Darfur captive for over eight months, repeatedly abusing her and eventually impregnating her.
Numerous instances of women being abducted from public places, subjected to physical and sexual assaults before being left unconscious or set free were reported. Most of these offenders were identified as being either in the attire of the RSF or had their faces masked with scarves, as per victim testimonies.
The report documented instances of sexual aggression involving the Sudanese army to a lesser extent, highlighting the necessity for further scrutiny. It also provided trustworthy accounts of child soldier recruitment by both contentious factions.
The mission uncovered gross violations like unwarranted arrests and torture committed by both the RSF and the army in the previous month.
Despite being overshadowed by the Gazan and Ukrainian disputes on global news platforms, the war in Sudan has resulted in one of the worst humanitarian crises globally. Thousands have lost their lives, widespread famine is rampant, and upwards of 11 million people have been displaced due to this war, which involves several foreign powers.
The Director-General of the International Organisation for Migration confirmed on Tuesday that in Sudan, the tally of displaced individuals exceeded 14 million. These people have been forced to abandon their homes and relocate either within national boundaries or beyond. Amy Pope, the IOM director general, shared with the press that “At present, over 14 million people are displaced”, of which 11 million are internally displaced and 3.1 million have crossed international borders. The overall tally includes individuals displaced prior to the initiation of the civil war in April 2023.