Human rights groups warn: Sexual violence is widespread in Sudan’s civil war

An international human rights group on Monday accused a paramilitary group in war-torn Sudan of sexual violence against women, including rape, gang rape and forced and child marriage. A smaller number of incidents were also attributed to the military, it said.

Human Rights Watch called on the United Nations and the African Union to establish a joint mission to protect civilians in Sudan, as fighting between the military and the paramilitary Rapid Support Forces, which has been going on for more than 15 years, shows no signs of abating.

“The Rapid Support Forces have raped, gang raped, and forced marriages of countless women and girls in residential areas of Sudan’s capital,” said Laetitia Bader, deputy Africa director at Human Rights Watch.

The group also accused both warring parties of denying survivors access to vital emergency care and said the military had “deliberately restricted” the delivery of humanitarian aid, including medical supplies and aid workers, to RSF-controlled areas since October last year.

Meanwhile, the RSF has looted medical supplies and occupied medical facilities, it said. RSF fighters have also committed sexual violence against service providers, the group said, citing local forces.

In April last year, Sudan plunged into chaos when simmering tensions between the military and the RSF erupted into open fighting in the capital Khartoum and elsewhere in the country. The UN says more than 14,000 people have been killed and 33,000 others injured in the fighting, but human rights activists say the real toll could be much higher.

The conflict has led to the world’s largest refugee crisis, with more than 11 million people forced to flee their homes.

The RSF, formerly close to the military, emerged from the Janjaweed militias formed by former President Omar al-Bashir during the conflict in Darfur in the 2000s. Al-Bashir ruled the country for three decades until he was overthrown in a popular uprising in 2019. Al-Bashir is wanted by the International Criminal Court for genocide and other crimes committed during the conflict.

In a report released on Sunday, Human Rights Watch said widespread sexual violence, forced marriages, and child marriages were documented during the conflict in Khartoum and the nearby cities of Omdurman and Bahri (northern Khartoum), which are known as Greater Khartoum.

These acts constituted “war crimes and crimes against humanity,” it said.

Most of the cases were attributed to the Rapid Support Forces, but some were also blamed on the military, particularly since it had retained control of Omdurman earlier this year. Men and boys were also raped, including in custody.

Neither the RSF nor the military immediately responded to requests for comment.

According to Human Rights Watch, neither party has taken meaningful steps to prevent their forces from committing rape or attacks on health workers or to independently and transparently investigate crimes committed by their forces.

An RSF spokesman denied occupying hospitals or medical centers in Khartoum and its twin cities, but provided no evidence that the group had effectively investigated allegations of sexual violence by its forces.

It calls on the African Union and the United Nations to jointly launch a new mission to protect civilians in Sudan, including preventing sexual and gender-based violence.

“The United Nations and the African Union must mobilise this protection and states should hold those responsible for ongoing sexual violence, attacks on local aid workers, health facilities and the blocking of aid to account,” Bader said.

Clashes were reported over the weekend in eastern Sudan and in the town of al-Fasher, the last military stronghold in the vast western region of Darfur. The RSF has been besieging al-Fasher for months in a bid to gain control.

International experts warned last month that 755,000 people faced famine in the coming months and that 8.5 million people faced extreme food shortages.