A UN report documents the brutal and widespread use of sexual violence in Sudan

The report issued by the United Nations Human Rights Office indicated that sexual violence coincided with the geographical spread of the conflict in Sudan, affecting 16 out of 18 states, and was used systematically. “As a tactic to terrorize and psychologically traumatize the civilian population.”

Speaking to reporters in Geneva today, Tuesday, Saif Magango, spokesman for the office, reported that at least 546 incidents of conflict-related sexual violence have affected 838 victims since the outbreak of the conflict in April 2023, stressing at the same time that “These numbers represent only the tip of the iceberg, given that most cases go unreported.”

Magango explained that most of the cases investigated by the office were attributed to members of the Rapid Support Forces, their allied groups, and Arab militias, while some incidents were also attributed to the Sudanese Armed Forces, security agencies, and allied militias.

A spokesman for the Human Rights Office said: “Nearly a quarter of the documented incidents involved gang rape. In one case, a girl was gang-raped by at least ten men. Other violations committed – in addition to rape and gang rape – included sexual slavery, forced marriage, forced prostitution, sexual torture, and human trafficking for the purpose of sexual violence.”

Actions that amount to war crimes

The report also documented the killing of at least 13 victims, including women, men and children, the majority of whom died as a result of brutal gang rape incidents, and the youngest of them was nine years old. Many others suffered from serious medical complications, exacerbated by the absence of functioning health facilities, and at least 59 women and girls became pregnant or gave birth as a result of the rapes.

The report concluded that sexual violence was committed as an act of revenge based on presumed affiliation with specific parties, as well as ethnically motivated attacks. Many victims belonging to the “Masalit” ethnicity in West Darfur reported that the attackers would inquire about their tribe before proceeding to rape them.

Magango stressed that some of these acts are heinous “They may amount to war crimes, and in Darfur in particular, there are reasonable grounds to believe that some acts of sexual violence committed in the context of widespread and systematic attacks against civilian populations may also amount to crimes against humanity.”

End impunity

The report warns that peace and social cohesion in Sudan risk being undermined for years to come, unless patterns of conflict-related sexual violence and its impacts are addressed through justice, responses that put victims at the heart, and efforts to address stigma and discrimination.

The United Nations High Commissioner for Human Rights, Volker Türk, called for prompt, independent and impartial investigations into acts of sexual violence committed during the conflict, in order to ensure accountability.

Turk said – in a statement issued today, Tuesday – that impunity continues “It clearly leads to exacerbation of damage and perpetuation of cycles of violations and abuses.” Stressing the need to hold all perpetrators fully accountable, “Including those with leadership responsibility,” Ensure that victims have access to effective remedies, including reparation.

The report also called on parties to the conflict to take concrete and verifiable measures to prevent sexual violence, and urged the international community to ensure that justice and accountability remain a fundamental pillar of its support for efforts aimed at a ceasefire and settlement of the conflict.