Head of UN-backed team of experts calls paramilitary violence in Sudan over sexual violence as war rages

GENEVA (AP) — The head of a U.N.-backed investigative team investigating human rights violations and abuses in Sudan said Friday that it paramilitary Rapid Support Forces responsible for widespread sexual violence in areas under their control.

Mohamed Chande Othman has since denounced the “stunning violence” in Sudan The war broke out more than eighteen months ago between the Sudanese army and the RSF, starting with open fighting in the capital Khartoum, which later spread across the country.

“We said in our report that we attribute sexual, gender-based violence to RSF in West Darfur, in Darfur, in greater Khartoum and in al-Gezira (state),” the Tanzanian lawyer said by telephone on Friday from Zimbabwe, where he was. attend a conference.

However, Othman said a renewed mandate of the UN Human Rights Council would also allow its team of independent experts to investigate “credible” allegations of sexual exploitation by the Sudanese armed forces.

The fact-finding mission released a more extensive version of it on Tuesday report presented in September to the Rights Council, which has 47 member states. The broader report noted gang rape, sexual slavery and the kidnapping of victims in areas controlled by the RSF.

“It is important to highlight the horrific nature and the widespread nature – the patterns of violence – that were committed,” Othman said.

His team found that sexual violence and allegations of forced marriage and cross-border trafficking for sexual purposes occurred mainly during invasions of towns and cities.

“Victims and witnesses consistently reported that perpetrators threatened them with weapons, including firearms, knives and whips to intimidate and coerce them,” said the latest report, which cited violence such as punching, beating with sticks and flogging before and during the rape .

“Men and boys were also reportedly targets of sexual violence while in detention, including rape, threats of rape, forced nudity and beatings on the genitals, which required further investigation,” it added.

The violence in Sudan is unrelenting. On Sunday, a doctors’ group and the United Nations reported that RSF fighters carried out riots in east-central Sudan? participated? a multi-day attack killing more than 120 people in one city.

Tuesday has the The UN migration agency said 14 million people – or more than 30% of the country’s population – has been displaced both inside and outside Sudan due to the conflict, making it the world’s largest displacement crisis.