Sudan: Fighters Gang Rape Women and Girls, Hold Sex Slaves

Sudan: Fighters Gang Rape Women and Girls, Hold Sex Slaves

Sudan: Fighters Gang Rape Women and Girls, Hold Sex Slaves

RSF fighters took 18-year-old “Hania” from her home in Fayu, South Kordofan when she was three months pregnant. They held her at a military base and repeatedly raped her for three months before she escaped.

Human Rights Watch has revealed its report on the ongoing human rights violation and war crimes in South Sudan by Rapid Support Forces (RSF) fighters and allied militias who have raped scores of women and girls, to the point of holding them as sex slaves in South Kordofan state since September 2023.

A 35-year-old ethnic Nuba woman said six RSF fighters in beige uniforms stormed into her family compound, with one man saying, “You Nuba, today is your day.” The men then gang-raped her. “My husband and my son tried to defend me, so one of the RSF fighters shot and killed them. Then they kept raping me, all six of them,” she said.

The report also included the story of an 18-year-old woman who said that in February, RSF fighters took her and 17 other women and girls from Fayu to a military base where they were detained with a group of 33 women and girls already there. Under the total control of their RSF captors, the women and girls were held in conditions of enslavement, at times even chained together. On a daily basis for three months, the fighters raped and beat the women and girls, including the 18-year-old survivor, crimes that also constitute sexual slavery. 

None of the women interviewed by Human Rights Watch saw any way to hold their attackers accountable. One said, “There is nothing anyone can do for justice. I just have to report to God.”

On November 25, Human Rights Watch shared a summary of its findings and related questions with Gen. Mohamed Hamdan Dagalo, the RSF commander, but has not received a response.

“Survivors described being gang raped, in front of their families or over prolonged periods of time, including while being held as sex slaves by RSF fighters,” said Belkis Wille, associate crisis and conflict director at Human Rights Watch. “United Nations and African Union member states should urgently act to assist survivors, protect other women and girls, and ensure justice for these heinous crimes.”

Sudan: Fighters Rape Women and Girls

In total, the survivors and other witnesses provided information about 79 girls and women, between the ages of 7 and 50, who reported being raped. Most incidents documented were gang rapes that occurred since December 31, 2023, in and around the town of Habila, and at an RSF base, also involving victims from the town of Fayu, approximately 17 kilometers south of Habila, in South Kordofan.

Survivors and witnesses said the attackers were all uniformed RSF members, or allied militia members, and some survivors said they knew some of the men by name from the community. In the cases documented by Human Rights Watch, RSF fighters raped 14 women and girls in their own homes or neighbors’ homes, often in front of family members. In five such cases, the attackers raped the women and girls after killing or threatening family members.

In a separate report published on December 10, Human Rights Watch documented large-scale killings, abductions, and injuries of civilians, as well as widespread looting and burning, in and around Habila and Fayu. Those abuses and the sexual violence are evidence of the RSF’s widespread attacks on civilians in South Kordofan.

“This research highlights what we have been hearing for some time now about the magnitude of sexual violence in Sudan, with the RSF coming into homes and raping women and girls time and again,” Wille said. “Yet so far, Sudanese victims have barely had access to services, let alone redress or meaningful efforts to stop these horrific crimes.”

The UN and AU should urgently deploy a mission to protect civilians in Sudan, mandated and resourced to address sexual violence, including prevention, documentation, and provision of comprehensive services to all survivors. As the secretary-general recommended, UN member states should also bolster support for the UN fact-finding mission to help pave the way toward meaningful accountability.

Source: December 2024 Human Rights Watch

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