Report warns: Paramilitaries rape girls as young as nine in Sudan

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A damning new report accuses a paramilitary group of raping girls as young as nine in war-torn Sudan.

Human Rights Watch research indicates that the group has committed sexual violence against women, including rape, forced marriage, gang rape, and child marriage. A smaller number of these incidents have been attributed to the military.

The study examines sexual violence against women and girls in the Sudanese capital Khartoum and its twin cities from the beginning of the conflict until February this year.

Victim support services have received reports that women and girls are being detained by the Rapid Support Forces (RSF) in conditions that may be reminiscent of sexual slavery.

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

The RSF has looted medical supplies and occupied medical facilities, researchers warned. RSF fighters have 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 Khartoum and other parts of 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.

Human Rights Watch reported that widespread sexual violence, forced marriages, and child marriages were documented during the conflict in Khartoum and the nearby cities of Omdurman and Bahri (North Khartoum), which are referred to as Greater Khartoum.

These acts constituted “war crimes and crimes against humanity,” the renowned global organization said.

Researchers said most of the cases were attributed to the Rapid Support Forces, but some were also blamed on the military, particularly since it retained control of Omdurman earlier this year. Men and boys have also been raped, including in custody, activists warned.

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.

Activists called 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.

A 2015 Human Rights Watch report described how the National Security Service targeted female activists in its raids.

The “public order police” arrest women and girls because of their choice of clothing – such as wearing trousers or uncovering their hair – or simply for riding in a car with members of the opposite sex, the organization said.

Additional reporting by Associated Press