UN experts* today expressed alarm at reports of brutal
and widespread use of rape and other forms of sexual
violence by the Rapid Support Forces (RSF) during the
four-month-old internal armed conflict in the Republic of
Sudan and called for an end to the ongoing
violence.
“The conflict has led to massive
humanitarian consequences. Thousands of civilians have been
killed, millions have been forcibly displaced from their
homes. Nearly 700,000 refugees and asylum-seekers have been
forced to flee to neighbouring countries,” the experts
said.
While calling on both parties to the conflict to
end violations of humanitarian and human rights law, the
experts expressed specific concern at consistent reports of
widespread violations by the RSF, including reports that
women and girls have been subjected to enforced
disappearance and acts tantamount thereto, forced to work,
and sexually exploited. Reportedly, hundreds of women have
been detained by the RSF, held in inhuman or degrading
conditions, subjected to sexual assault, and are vulnerable
to sexual slavery.
“Sudanese women and girls in
urban centers as well as in Darfur have been particularly
vulnerable to violence. The lives and safety of migrant and
refugee women and girls, primarily from Eritrea and South
Sudan, have also been seriously affected,” they
said.
“It is alleged that men identified as members
of the RSF are using rape and sexual violence of women and
girls as tools to punish and terrorise communities. Some of
the reported rapes appear to be ethnically and racially
motivated,” the experts said.
The experts said that
the capacity to support and tend to victims of violence has
been significantly hampered by the fighting, which has
impeded access to the victims, communities and areas
affected by the conflict. They noted that it has been
challenging for local and international actors to reach
affected persons and those seeking or qualifying for
international protection, and to provide assistance,
including reproductive and sexual health care, and that
there is evidence that local women human rights defenders
have also been directly targeted.
The experts noted
that despite the RSF’s declared zero-tolerance policy for
sexual and gender-based violence, the commission of these
alleged crimes, among others, have repeatedly been
attributed to the RSF.
“The RSF must demonstrate its
commitment to upholding humanitarian and human rights
obligations, including preventing sexual and gender-based
violence and trafficking in persons, facilitating
humanitarian access and holding perpetrators accountable”,
the experts said.
“Assistance and protection to
victims and access to effective remedies must be provided to
women and girls.”
The experts reminded all parties
to the conflict that their combatants must strictly follow
applicable international humanitarian and human rights law
and urged the peaceful resolution of the conflict. They also
called on the international community to investigate alleged
violations of international humanitarian and human rights
law.
ENDS
*The
experts: Reem Alsalem, Special
Rapporteur on violence against women and girls, its causes
and consequences; Felipe González
Morales, Special
Rapporteur on the human rights of migrants;
Siobhán Mullally, Special
Rapporteur on trafficking in persons, especially women and
children; Surya Deva, Special
Rapporteur on the right to development;
Priya Gopalan (Chair-Rapporteur),
Matthew Gillett (Vice-Chair on
Communications), Ganna Yudkivska
(Vice-Chair on Follow-Up), Miriam
Estrada-Castillo, and Mumba Malila
– Working
Group on arbitrary detention; Aua
Baldé (Chair-Rapporteur), Gabriella
Citroni (Vice-Chair), Angkhana
Neelapaijit, Grażyna Baranowska
and Ana Lorena Delgadillo Perez
– Working
Group on enforced or involuntary disappearances;
Alice Jill Edwards, Special
Rapporteur on torture and other cruel, inhuman or degrading
treatment or
punishment;
Dorothy Estrada
Tanck (Chair), Ivana Radačić
(Vice-Chair), Elizabeth Broderick,
Meskerem Geset Techane and Melissa
Upreti – Working
Group on discrimination against women and girls;
Mary Lawlor, Special
Rapporteur on the situation of human rights
defenders; Mohamed Abdelsalam
Babiker, Special
Rapporteur on the Situation of Human Rights in
Eritrea; Mama Fatima Singhateh,
Special
Rapporteur on the sale, sexual exploitation and sexual abuse
of children; Morris
Tidball-Binz, Special
Rapporteur on extrajudicial, summary or arbitrary
executions; Ms. Ashwini. K.P.
Special Rapporteur on contemporary forms of racism, racial
discrimination, xenophobia and related intolerance;
Ravindran Daniel (Chair-Rapporteur),
Sorcha MacLeod, Chris Kwaja, Carlos Salazar
Couto, Working
Group on the use of mercenaries; Paula
Gaviria Betancur, Special
Rapporteur on the human rights of internally displaced
persons.
The experts are part of what is
known as 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
Council’s independent fact-finding and monitoring
mechanisms. Special Procedures mandate-holders are
independent human rights experts appointed by the Human
Rights Council to address either specific country situations
or thematic issues in all parts of the world. Special
Procedures experts work on a voluntary basis; they are not
UN staff and do not receive a salary for their work. They
are independent of any government or organisation and serve
in their individual capacity.
UN Human Rights,
Country Page – Republic
of Sudan
For additional
information,, please contact hrc-sr-vaw@un.org.
Follow
news related to the UN’s independent human rights experts on
Twitter: @UN_SPExperts
Concerned
about the world we live in?
Then stand up
for someone’s rights
today.
#Standup4humanrights and visit the
website at
http://www.standup4humanrights.org
Add Comment