Sudan: UN probe finds evidence of large-scale sexual violence by RSF
Sudan’s Rapid Support Forces, the paramilitary group fighting Sudan’s national army, has been accused of large-scale attacks involving sexual violence and gang rapes, according to a UN inquiry published on Tuesday.
The Independent International Fact-Finding Mission for Sudan said in its report that RSF actions may amount to war crimes and crimes against humanity, including torture, rape, sexual slavery, and persecution based on ethnic and gender grounds.
Rights groups have previously accused the RSF of a multitude of atrocities against civilians in Sudan, including rape and genocide.
An earlier UN fact-finding mission last month said both sides of the conflict may be guilty of atrocities.
But the new report found that the majority of sexual violence was committed by the RSF. It said that the gender-based violence was documented mainly in Greater Khartoum, Darfur and Gezira and that it was “part of a pattern aimed at terrorising and punishing civilians for perceived links with opponents and suppressing any opposition to their advances”.
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“The sheer scale of sexual violence we have documented in Sudan is staggering,” said Mohamed Chande Othman, chair of the fact-finding mission.
“The situation faced by vulnerable civilians, in particular women and girls of all ages, is deeply alarming and needs urgent address.”
'The sheer scale of sexual violence we have documented in Sudan is staggering'
- Mohamed Chande Othman, UN fact-finding mission
According to the report, the sexual violence against women took place during RSF offensives and its fighters' occupation of urban areas. It said it also happened during attacks on shelters for internally displaced people or on civilians fleeing the fighting.
The report added that sexual crimes were committed “with particular cruelty” in the sprawling western region of Darfur, including the use of “firearms, knives and whips to intimidate or coerce the victims while using derogatory, racist or sexist slurs and death threats”.
Joy Ngozi Ezeilo, another investigator, said those responsible for the violations should be held accountable.
“Without accountability, the cycle of hatred and violence will carry on. We must put a halt to impunity and bring perpetrators to account,” he said.
“The responsibility and shame for these heinous acts should be placed solely on the perpetrators,” said Mona Rishmawi, who was also part of the mission.
Under UN Security Council Resolution 1593 passed in 2005, the ICC has jurisdiction over crimes committed in Darfur from 1 July 2002 onwards, but the fact-finding mission called for extending that jurisdiction to the rest of the country.
“Unless the jurisdiction of the International Criminal Court is expanded to cover all Sudan and an independent judicial mechanism working in tandem and complementarity with the ICC is established, the perpetrators of these crimes will continue to rip through Sudan causing terror and havoc,” Rishmawi said.
'Spectre of genocide'
Middle East Eye has previously reported on acts of sexual violence, including gang rapes, committed by RSF troops in Gezira. This includes an incident where a young woman was raped by 16 RSF soldiers.
Gezira, an agricultural state lying between the White Nile and Blue Nile, has been the site of alleged atrocities by RSF fighters over the past two weeks, since one of the paramilitary’s top commanders defected to join the Sudanese army.
The violence has seen more than 100 people killed, with sexual violence committed against women and girls in apparent reprisal attacks, according to reports by rights groups.
Earlier this month, Abu Aqla Keikal, a senior RSF commander based in Gezira, defected and handed himself over to the Sudanese army, which has been at war with the paramilitary group since April 2023.
The army subsequently pardoned Keikal for atrocities committed under his command.
The Strategic Initiative for Women in the Horn of Africa (SIHA), a regional women’s rights organisation, said it documented 25 cases of sexual violence by the RSF between 21 and 24 October.
According to SIHA, women in al-Seraiha village were tortured and gang raped, which prompted some of them to take their own lives.
“Sudan finds itself at a pivotal juncture, with the ominous spectre of genocide looming over the country,” the organisation said. It called on the United Nations Security Council to take steps to restore peace in Sudan and protect civilians, and for setting up an ad hoc UN criminal tribunal for Sudan.
It also called for halting arms transfers into Sudan through targeted sanctions.
The US this month imposed sanctions on Algoney Hamdan Daglo Musa, the younger brother of RSF leader Mohamed Hamdan Daglo (known as Hemeti), accusing him of leading arms procurement for the paramilitary forces and prolonging the war in Sudan.
'Sudan finds itself at a pivotal juncture, with the ominous spectre of genocide looming over the country'
- Strategic Initiative for Women in the Horn of Africa
The US Treasury said that Daglo Musa controls a company in Dubai that has acted as a front for the RSF to supply it with arms during the current conflict.
General Abdel Fattah al-Burhan, Sudan's de facto head of state and national army chief, said in an address to the UN General Assembly last month that the RSF was "receiving political and logistical support at the local and regional levels", without naming the United Arab Emirates.
Middle East Eye has reported extensively on how the UAE has become the RSF's main regional patron.
The fighting between the RSF and the Sudanese army has displaced more than 11 million people and caused a spiralling humanitarian crisis.
At least 13 areas of the country are at risk of famine, and more than 25 million people are facing acute hunger, according to the World Food Programme.
In May, Human Rights Watch said the violence in Darfur committed by RSF militias could constitute genocide against the Masalit community.
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