Sudan’s Rapid Support Forces (RSF) and allies have committed “staggering” levels of sexual abuse, raping civilians as troops advance and abducting some women as sex slaves during the 18-month war, a UN mission said on Tuesday.
Victims have ranged between eight and 75 years of age, said the UN fact-finding mission’s report, with most sexual violence committed by the RSF and allied Arab militia in an attempt to terrorise and punish people for perceived links to enemies.
“The sheer scale of sexual violence we have documented in Sudan is staggering,” said mission chair Mohamed Chande Othman in a statement accompanying an 80-page report based on interviews with victims, families and witnesses.
The report echoed investigations by Reuters and rights groups into widespread sexual abuse in the conflict.
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The RSF, which is fighting Sudan's army, did not immediately respond to a request for comment. It has previously said it would investigate allegations and bring perpetrators to justice.
The paramilitary RSF has roots in so-called Janjaweed militias, which helped the military crush a rebellion in Sudan's western Darfur region two decades ago.
In the current conflict, the RSF has seized control of large parts of Sudan including in West Darfur where it is accused of carrying out ethnic killings against the Masalit people with the help of Arab militias.
The UN mission said racist slurs against non-Arabs in parts of West Darfur state were widely used during sexual attacks, indicating ethnicity targeting.
One victim from El Geneina in West Darfur said her rapist told her at gunpoint: “We will make you, the Masalit girls, give birth to Arab children,” the report said.
In another case, a West Darfur woman was held captive for more than eight months by RSF guards and impregnated by her main captor during repeated rapes, it added.
In four other incidents, women were taken from the street before being beaten and raped then released or abandoned unconscious on the street. Perpetrators mostly wore either RSF uniforms or scarves concealing their faces, victims said.
The report said it had documented a smaller number of sexual violence cases involving the Sudanese army, with more investigation needed. It also said it had credible reports that both warring parties had recruited child soldiers.
Last month, the mission found that both the army and RSF had committed major abuses such as torture and arbitrary arrests.
Though pushed out of global headlines by the Ukraine and Gaza conflicts, Sudan’s war has created one of the world’s worst humanitarian disasters, with thousands killed, more than 11 million uprooted, widespread hunger and involvement of foreign powers.
The head of the International Organisation for Migration said on Tuesday that more than 14 million people had fled their homes in Sudan, either inside the country or over its borders, with some 200,000 people fleeing since last month.
“The 11 million is [people] internally displaced within the country, the 3.1 million are those who have crossed borders. So that’s actually over 14 million people who are on the move right now,” IOM director general Amy Pope told reporters.
She later added that the total figure included some people who were displaced before the civil war began in April 2023. – Reuters