Arabs from the Rapid Support Forces (RSF) paramilitary group are accused of carrying out many atrocities – including gang rape – in a conflict that has increasingly assumed racial and ethnic overtones in Darfur. Many black Africans fear that the RSF – along with allied militias known as the Janjaweed – want to turn the ethnically mixed region into an Arab-ruled domain.
In mid-April, Sudan was plunged into a civil war because of a bitter falling out between its two most powerful generals, army chief Abdel Fattah al-Burhan and RSF commander Mohamed Hamdan Dagalo, also known as “Hemedti” and a member of Darfur’s Arab Rizeigat tribe. This feud reignited the long-standing conflict in Darfur, which originally began in 2003 and has already claimed the lives of an estimated 300,000 people in the region.
The RSF originated from the Janjaweed militias, which were notorious for their involvement in the conflict during the 2000s. These militias faced accusations of committing mass killings, rapes, and other atrocities against the African communities in Darfur. Subsequently, former President Omar al-Bashir transformed the Janjaweed fighters into the RSF and placed them under the leadership of Dagalo.
The ongoing conflict in Darfur has led to a humanitarian crisis, with over 160,000 people, primarily from the Massalit community, seeking refuge in neighboring Chad. The true death toll in the region remains uncertain, although the lowest estimate for El Geneina alone stands at 5,000 fatalities.
Adding to the chaos, RSF fighters have been accused of committing atrocities in Sudan’s most populous state, Khartoum, where the capital city is located. The paramilitaries have gained significant control over the state, and despite the efforts of the army, they have not been effectively pushed back. This escalating fighting has forced nearly two million people to flee their homes since mid-April. The situation continues to be highly volatile and deeply concerning for the people of Sudan.
During early July, the UN Human Rights office in Sudan disclosed that it had been informed about 21 separate incidents of sexual violence involving at least 57 women and girls. UN human rights chief, Volker Türk, highlighted that the RSF (Rapid Support Forces) has been identified as the primary perpetrator in nearly all the cases reported to the office.
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However, both the UN and local human rights groups express deep concern that these reported numbers represent only a small fraction of the actual scale of the crime. The situation points to a broader and more pervasive issue that remains largely underreported and requires urgent attention.
Human Rights Watch researchers have documented abuses against dozens of survivors of atrocities committed by the RSF and allied Arab militia in Sudan’s West Darfur town of El Geneina. According to HRW, “Rights monitors have reported on dozens of cases of rape in El Geneina between May and late June. Sudan has a long and distressing history of sexual violence against women and girls during armed conflict that has never been addressed. Sudanese authorities and allied militias used rape and sexual violence as deliberate strategies against Darfur’s non-Arab communities in the early 2000s and since.”
HRW called on the United Nations Security Council, which it says “has largely failed to respond to the armed conflict that broke out in Sudan in April,” to “urgently call for a briefing by the special representative of the secretary-general on sexual violence in conflict.”
“Donors should provide more resources to ensure that survivors in Darfur and eastern Chad receive meaningful care, including emergency care, longer-term psychosocial and other health care, and help should they want to seek redress against those responsible,” HRW added.
“This spiralling violence bears terrifying similarity with the war crimes and crimes against humanity perpetrated in Darfur since 2003,” said Tigere Chagutah, a regional director with Amnesty International. “Even those seeking safety are not being spared.”
Without a doubt, women and girls in Darfur are not safe; and if they aren’t being killed, they are being raped one after another. The international community can and must step in and take control of the situation before it is too late and yet another few thousand civilians are murdered.
Image: Al Jazeera/YouTube
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