The United Nations Office for Human Rights reported on Friday that dozens of individuals, including children, have been subjected to rape and other forms of sexual violence in the ongoing conflict in Sudan, acts that may amount to war crimes. Sudan descended into chaos in mid-April last year when clashes erupted in the capital, Khartoum, between the country’s army led by Abdel Fattah al-Burhan, and the Rapid Support Forces paramilitary group, under the command of Mohamed Hamdan Dagalo “Hemedti”.
The report noted that the fighting quickly spread across the country, particularly in urban areas and the troubled western region of Darfur, resulting in at least 12,000 deaths so far and forcing over 8 million people to flee their homes.
The report, covering the period from the outbreak of fighting until December 15 last year, documents violations in a country that has been largely inaccessible to relief groups and human rights observers recently, overshadowing the impact of a conflict overshadowed by wars in other places such as Gaza and Ukraine. The report found that at least 118 individuals were subjected to sexual violence, including rape, with many assaults committed by members of the paramilitary forces, in homes and on the streets. The United Nations reported that one woman “was held in a building and repeatedly gang-raped over a period of 35 days.”
Additionally, the report also pointed to the recruitment of children by both sides of the conflict. The UN High Commissioner for Human Rights, Volker Turk, stated that “some of these violations may amount to war crimes,” calling for swift, comprehensive, and independent investigations into the alleged human rights abuses.
The report is based on interviews with over 300 victims and witnesses, some conducted in neighboring Ethiopia and Chad where many Sudanese have fled, along with the analysis of images, video clips, and satellite imagery from conflict areas.
The United Nations stated that the horrors of war continue. The UN referred to a video that emerged last week from North Kordofan state in the country, showing men in Sudanese army uniforms carrying the severed heads of members of a rival paramilitary faction. Turk said, “For nearly a year now, accounts coming from Sudan speak of death, suffering, and despair, with the meaningless conflict and human rights violations showing no end in sight.”
He added, “The guns must be silenced, and civilians must be protected.” Speaking via video from the capital, Nairobi, Kenya, to a United Nations briefing in Geneva on Friday, Seif Magango, the regional spokesperson for the United Nations Office for Human Rights, said, “The number of displaced people (in Sudan) has now exceeded the 8 million mark, a significant figure that should be a concern for everyone.”
Earlier in February, UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres told reporters that there is no military solution to the conflict in Sudan, urging the rival generals to start discussions to end the conflict. He emphasized that the continuation of fighting “will not bring any solution, so it must be stopped as soon as possible.”
