Source: Amnesty International –
This press release contains descriptions of sexual violence and torture.
The Rapid Support Forces (RSF) has inflicted widespread sexual violence on women and girls throughout Sudan’s two-year civil war to humiliate, assert control and displace communities across the country. The RSF’s atrocities, including rape, gang-rape and sexual slavery, amount to war crimes and possible crimes against humanity, Amnesty International said in a new report.
The report, They raped all of us: Sexual violence against women and girls in Sudan, documents RSF soldiers raping or gang-raping 36 women and girls as young as 15, plus other forms of sexual violence, in four Sudanese states between April 2023 and October 2024. Violations include raping a mother after tearing away her breastfeeding baby and the 30-day sexual enslavement of a woman in Khartoum, as well as severe beatings, torture with hot liquid or sharp blades, and murder.
“The RSF’s assaults on Sudanese women and girls are sickening, depraved and aimed at inflicting maximum humiliation. The RSF has targeted civilians, particularly women and girls, with unimaginable cruelty during this war,” said Deprose Muchena, Amnesty International Senior Director for Regional Human Rights Impact. “The world must act to stop the RSF’s atrocities by stemming the flow of weapons into Sudan, pressuring the leadership to end sexual violence, and holding perpetrators including top commanders to account.”
“The RSF’s assaults on Sudanese women and girls are sickening, depraved and aimed at inflicting maximum humiliation.
Deprose Muchena, Amnesty International Senior Director for Regional Human Rights Impact
Sudan’s civil war erupted in April 2023 between the RSF and Sudanese Armed Forces (SAF), killing tens of thousands of people and displacing more than 11 million to date. Both sides have committed serious violations of international humanitarian law, some of which amount to war crimes, including sexual violence against women and girls.
For the report, Amnesty interviewed 30 people, mostly survivors and relatives of survivors in Ugandan refugee camps. All survivors and witnesses identified RSF fighters as perpetrators. The RSF’s use of sexual violence throughout the conflict and across Sudan, combined with the fact that many attacks took place in the presence of other soldiers, victims and other civilians, indicates perpetrators did not feel compelled to hide their crimes and did not fear any response.
The RSF did not respond to Amnesty’s requests for comment.