The Sudanese Foreign Ministry issued a statement on Thursday, revealing its acknowledgment of a report released by a regional civil society organization, the African Women’s Century Initiative Network (AfriWCI), regarding the crimes of abducting women and young girls in Sudan, with allegations directed at the Rapid Support Forces (RSF).
The AfriWCI documented a total of 104 cases of abduction and enforced disappearance of women and young girls since the conflict between the army and the RSF began in April of last year.
According to the report published by AfriWCI on Wednesday, the entry of the RSF into new areas has led to an increase in the number of abductions and enforced disappearances.
The network revealed that the abducted women are forced into domestic servitude to serve the members of the RSF under duress, exposing them to the risks of sexual violence, with some of them being as young as thirteen.
The abductions reportedly occur after threats to the victims’ families, sometimes accompanied by the forced deportation of the families to conceal the crime, according to AfriWCI.
The foreign ministry emphasized that “the network’s report supports what was stated in the statement issued on August 17 by thirty-two human rights experts and UN special rapporteurs on women’s and children’s protection and the prevention of sexual violence, which warned of the widespread and heinous use of rape, sexual violence, and acts of humiliation against women by the RSF.
The experts mentioned that the RSF are holding hundreds of women and subjecting them to sexual enslavement, according to Sudan’s Foreign Ministry.
The foreign ministry called upon human rights organizations to shed light on the atrocities committed by the RSF, especially against women, children, displaced persons, and vulnerable groups.
It also commended the decision of the Arab Lawyers Union to establish a committee to investigate and inquire into the crimes of the RSF.
On the other hand, the RSF deny these accusations and insist on denying any wrongdoing by their members.
They state that any of their soldiers found to be involved in violations will face justice.
Since April 2023, the war between the forces loyal to General Abdel Fattah al-Burhan and his deputy, known as Hemeti, has resulted in the deaths of over 13,000 people and the displacement of 7.5 million, making Sudan the world’s largest displacement crisis.
The conflict has left nearly half of Sudan’s population of 49 million people in need of assistance, with hunger spreading.
