© UNFPA Office in the Sudan. Sudanese women speak to UNFPA staff about the security issues they face on a daily basis.
In the wake of the recent escalation of violence in Sudan, 12 UN human rights experts today issued a joint statement expressing alarm at the widespread sexual violence perpetrated by the Sudanese Rapid Support Forces (RSF) in the conflict.
According to information obtained by the United Nations, more than 6 million people have been forcibly displaced since the outbreak of the internal conflict in Sudan in mid-April 2023.
Sexual violence is used as a tool of war
The experts expressed alarm at reports of sexual and gender-based violence, which are widely used by the Rapid Support Forces and their allied militias as tools of war to silence, intimidate, destroy and punish women and girls, or to punish the specific communities they target. Similar gender-based violence has been used against non-Sudanese migrants, refugees and stateless persons.
Previously, in August 2023, the experts expressed particular concern about a number of widespread human rights violations committed by the Rapid Support Forces, including sexual exploitation, slavery, trafficking, rape, and violence similar to enforced disappearances, as well as racially, ethnically and politically motivated attacks in some cases, such as those committed against armed groups in an area. This was followed by reports of forced prostitution and forced marriage of women and children.
Violations continue to spread
"It is reported that these grave violations are no longer concentrated in Khartoum or Darfur and have now spread to other parts of the Sudan, such as Kordofan," the experts said. ”
They called on the Sudan International Fact-Finding Mission, established by the UN Human Rights Council in October 2023, to conduct a thorough investigation into these human rights violations and crimes to ensure that the perpetrators are held accountable. At the same time, the experts called on both parties to the conflict to cooperate fully and actively with the fact-finding mission and its investigations.
Despite initial promises that the Rapid Support Forces (RSF) would be impartially investigated into all kinds of violence in which they are involved, including gender-based violence, violence continues unabated and continues to be frequent, the experts said. These include attacks on camps and communities where internally displaced persons live. The Rapid Support Forces (RSF) and its allied militias reportedly attacked these camps and communities, looting property, ill-treating and arbitrarily executing displaced persons in the Sudan.
"The Rapid Support Forces (RSF) have not fulfilled their commitments, and the abominable atrocities committed by their forces and those associated with them have not been addressed," they said. ”
Women and children suffer "irreparable" wounds
The scale and severity of violence against women and girls is also grossly underestimated, as many survivors are unable to come forward for fear of reprisals and stigma, the experts noted.
"We are gravely concerned about the lack of access to the attention and care that victims need due to the insecurity in the affected areas and the lack of access to these areas by humanitarian relief workers"
Experts warn that victims and survivors of these crimes, especially children, may suffer lasting traumatic effects on physical, psychological and sexual health and development. It is important to ensure that they have access to adequate support services and gender-sensitive compensation for the harm they suffer.
"The world cannot turn a blind eye to the atrocities and mass sexual violence that has taken place in Sudan," the experts said, "and the international community must send a strong and clear message to both parties to the conflict that they are responsible for their actions and violations of international humanitarian and human rights law." ”
Human rights expert
The joint statement was made by human rights experts: Reem Alsalem, Special Rapporteur on violence against women and girls, its causes and consequences, Morris Tidball-Binz, Special Rapporteur on extrajudicial, summary or arbitrary executions, Ashwini K.P., Special Rapporteur on contemporary forms of racism, torture and other cruel, Alice Jill Edwards, Special Rapporteur on inhuman or degrading treatment or punishment, Aua Baldé, Chairperson-Rapporteur of the Working Group on Enforced or Involuntary Disappearances, Gabriella Citroni, Vice-Chair, Angkhana Neelapaijit, Grażyna Baranowska, Ana Lorena Delgadillo Perez, Mama Fatima Singhateh, Special Rapporteur on the sale and sexual exploitation of children, Gehad Madi, Special Rapporteur on the human rights of migrants, and Tomoya Obokata, Special Rapporteur on contemporary forms of slavery.
The human rights experts are part of the Special Procedures of the Human Rights Council. Special Procedures, the largest body of independent experts in the UN human rights system, is the general name of the Human Rights Council's independent fact-finding and monitoring mechanism, which addresses specific country situations or thematic issues around the world. The experts of the special procedures work on a voluntary basis, they are not United Nations staff members and are independent of any government or organization. They perform their duties in their personal capacity and do not receive remuneration for their work.
