HRW confirms mass rape allegations in North Darfur by Sudanese soldiers
February 11, 2015 (KHARTOUM) – Sudanese government troops carried out mass rape against women and girls in North Darfur village of Tabit late last year, Human Rights Watch (HRW) said in a report released today.
Twenty-three other “credible sources” provided information about an additional 194 incidents of rape, HRW said in its 48-page report.
Overall, HRW said it conducted 130 interviews, including with over 50 current and former residents of Tabit, via telephone with the assistance of an interpreter.
The interviewees included 17 women and a girl (15 of whom described being raped), 10 men who suffered abuses, 8 men and 1 woman who witnessed abuses other than rape, and 9 people who visited Tabit shortly after the attacks.
Four soldiers from Sudan Armed Forces (SAF) who defected from the government battalion stationed in Tabit including three who participated in the attack were also interviewed, HRW said
A Darfuri media outlet based in the Netherlands was the first to report these claims last year that SAF soldiers raped some 200 women and girls in Tabit.
Following these allegations, Sudanese authorities initially prevented a verification team from the hybrid peacekeeping mission in Darfur (UNAMID) from probing the claim but allowed them to visit the area one week later.
After the visit, UNAMID said they found no evidence confirming the mass rape claims.
However, Sudanese officials were angered by the remarks of UN officials who stressed the need for further investigation mentioning the heavy presence of military and police during the first probe.
Since then , Sudan refused to authorize a second investigation and called publicly for an exit strategy for the joint mission from Darfur.
The head of the UN peacekeeping department, Hervé Ladsous, said at the time that a team from UNAMID needed to return to Tabit “in part due to the heavy presence of military and police” during their first visit several weeks ago.
Based on testimony it collected, the rapes occurred in several neighborhoods of Tabit including Hai Adan Barit and Hai Al-Fur.
“Two government soldiers who participated in the attacks told Human Rights Watch that they were directly given orders from superior officers to “rape women,” because the women were rebel supporters; three government soldiers said they witnessed other soldiers raping women”.
SAF troops reportedly entered the village in search of a missing soldier whom they believed was abducted and conducted house-to-house searches during three days of operations.
HRW quoted a woman by the name of Mahassan in her twenties who said that she and three friends were raped by soldiers after sunset while they were home preparing perfumes for a wedding.
Ten SAF soldiers entered the compound, dragged the women outside and started raping them.
“The soldiers said that they were looking for a missing soldier. … They searched the compound. … [T]hen they came towards us. They grabbed me and they grabbed my friend. The other soldiers took the other girls in a different direction. They took [me and my friend outside of the compound] towards the school. They raped both of us on the street. … Three of them raped me and three of them raped my friend. … They raped us all night. That’s why I’m still sick. I cannot sit down for a long time like I could before,” Mahassan was quoted as saying.
HRW called on the UN Security Council (UNSC), the African Union Peace and Security Council (AUPSC), and UNAMID “to take concrete steps to protect civilians in Darfur from further abuse, ensure access to medical care for victims, and see that those responsible for crimes in violation of international law are brought to justice”.
“The exact number of women and girls who were raped or subjected to sexual violence by Sudanese military personnel in Tabit will not be known until independent and impartial investigators with expertise in sexual and gender-based crimes are granted unfettered access to Tabit and town residents feel safe to share their experiences without fear of retaliation” HRW said.
On Wednesday, the UN Secretary General Ban Ki-Moon spokesperson Stephane Dujarric, called on Khartoum to allow a UNAMID mission to investigate the rape claims and to allow “safe, unhindered access to the town”.
Sudan insists that rape allegations are mere fabrications by parties hostile to the government. The government-appointed special prosecutor for Darfur found no basis to these claims.
(ST)