Sudan armed conflict: A war on women

 20 December 2023

The African Center for Justice and Peace Studies (ACJPS) has continued to magnify the voices of Sudanese women by documenting incidents and stories and testimonies of victims and survivors of sexual violence during the ongoing armed conflict in Sudan with emphasis on rape and sexual slavery. The testimonies in this release indicate that rape is a systematic practice in areas of conflict by mainly the paramilitary Rapid Support Forces (RSF), allied militia and bandit groups that take advantage of the chaos. All names used in this release are pseudonyms to protect victims.

Ms. Fatima, a 28-year-old victim and survivor of sexual violence narrated that “on 20 July 2023, at about 06:00 pm while I was on my way home from work, a white saloon vehicle suddenly stopped next to me and the driver who was dressed in full Rapid Support Forces (RSF) uniform offered me a ride to my destination. I thanked him but politely declined and continued walking since I was about to reach my home in the Railway neighborhood in Nyala. While I was approaching the South Darfur Police station, another vehicle stopped next to me and the driver asked me to get in. I got into the vehicle because I thought it was probably one of my customers since he called me by my name but after I got in, I quickly realized that I did not know/recognize him. He immediately rolled the windows up, locked the doors, and drove towards the South Darfur State Assembly building south of Aldman Hotel.  Scared for my life, I asked him where he was heading but he did not respond and continued driving to the hotel. He then stopped and asked me to get out of the car but I refused. He pulled a gun and I immediately got out. He then took me inside the hotel to a room on the third floor. While heading to the room, I could hear screams from people in other rooms asking for help and they sounded like they were being tortured and abused. He then left me alone in the room and returned after a while and asked me for sex but I resisted. He then started beating me into submission with a leather lash consequently injuring my hand and back. Amidst my screams, he rapped me and this continued for all the five days that I was in his custody. On the third day, I got to know that he was called Jabir while he was talking on the phone. During the day, the perpetrator would lock me in the room, go somewhere, and return in the evening with food. On 27 July 2023, in the afternoon I managed to escape during a gunfight between SAF and RSF as he (Mr. Jabir) moved out and forgot to lock the door. I later received medical attention,”

Ms. Marwa is a 25-year-old resident of the Al-Emtidad neighborhood in Nyala.

“On 26 June 2023, around 09:00 am, while I was on my way from home to the supermarket, three armed men wearing masks got out of a saloon car, pointed guns at me, and ordered me to get into the vehicle. Although there were some witnesses (people on the street), they did not intervene. As soon as I got into the vehicle, I was masked and they drove off. I noticed that they did not drive far away before stopping.  When we arrived at the destination, I was unmasked and noticed that we were in a church (New Testament church). I was left in the church alone for a while and later joined by one armed man dressed in plain clothes, he tried to remove my dress but I resisted. He eventually raped me and left. After a while, another man came and interrogated me about my tribe, and state of origin among others and I answered all the questions which led him to discovering that we were from the same village and we were probably related. He then promised to protect and help me escape. The next day at around 07:00 pm he indeed helped me escape and I was taken to Ali Buhia Mosque where I received medical attention,”

On 3 December 2023, Ms. Muna aged 20, and Ms. Amina aged 26, residents of the Marching IDP camp located approximately 65 kilometers north of Nyala, South Darfur State were raped by four RSF officers while they were working in a Tobacco farm in Marching. The men who came riding on motorcycles threatened the women with guns and each of them took turns raping the women.

Case Update

ACJPS followed up on the incident we reported in which ten including Amina aged 15 and Lilia aged 22, both residents of the Alezaa neighborhood in Nyala, South Darfur State were abducted on 15 August 2023, and subjected to sexual slavery.

ACJPS ascertained that the kidnappers belonged to a group of robbers/bandits from the Alwadi neighborhood in Nyala, South Darfur. The men joined RSF after the outbreak of the armed conflict on 15 April 2023. The kidnappers demanded a sum of 7,000,000 Sudanese Pounds (approximately 6,520 USD) from their families as a condition for their release. The girls’ families engaged in negotiations of the sum and mode of payment and the parties agreed on 6,000,000 Sudanese Pounds (approximately 5,357 USD). The first installment of 4,000,000 Sudanese Pounds (approximately 3,571 USD) was made through a third party in the Domaya neighborhood located approximately 10 kilometers West of Nyala town. The balance of 2,000,000 Sudanese Pounds (approximately 1,785    USD) was later paid through a mobile money app known as Bankak (Your Bank) as instructed by the kidnappers. The girls were then released after full payment at 05:00 am the following day after 12 days.

The survivors/girls testified that they were taken to a two-roomed house. They were allegedly kept in one room and not allowed to move except when going to the bathroom and food was brought for them in the room. On 18 August 2023, three other girls were brought to the house. “The other room was used by the kidnappers to make phone calls to families demanding ransom and used as a brothel with both men and women coming in and out of the room. The second group of victims were not sexually abused but subjected to indecent assault,” the girls added.

Other developments

On 30 September 2023, the bodies of Ms. Janah Ageed, aged 22 from center 8 in Utash IDP camp in Nyala, South Darfur, and Ms. Suhair Musa, aged 18 from center 2 in Utash IDP camp in Nyala, South Darfur were found in Al-Reyad neighborhood in Nyala. The two women went missing on 27 September 2023 at about 05:00 pm while on their way to the camp from their workplace Al-Muashi market. According to an eye witness, the two women were abducted from the main road in Al-Muashi on 27 September 2023, by two armed men dressed in RSF uniform driving a Hyundai car locally known as Click. Their families started searching for them for three days until they discovered their dead bodies with marks and bruises indicating that they were tortured.

We therefore call upon the warring parties, and regional and international community to commit to finding a lasting solution for the war.

We reiterate our calls to the Sudanese authorities to:

• To issue a public statement condemning conflict-related sexual violence and issue orders that it shall not be tolerated.
• Conduct a thorough and impartial investigation into all reports of sexual violence, whether committed by state or non-state actors with a view of holding perpetrators accountable.
• Repeal laws that provide immunity from prosecution to perpetrators including the Armed Forces Act.
• Ensure that medical and other appropriate support services are available to victims.
• Grant the regional and international actors full and unhindered access to investigate allegations of sexual violence within their mandate.
• Ratify the Protocol to the African Charter on Human and Peoples’ Rights on the Rights of Women in Africa and domesticate the Convention on the Elimination of All Forms of Discrimination against Women.