UN expert urges Sudan to investigate mass rape allegations in Darfur
May 24, 2015 (KHARTOUM) – The United Nations special rapporteur, Rashida Manjoo, has called on the Sudanese government to establish a probe commission to investigate allegations of mass rape by the Sudanese army in North Darfur state village of Tabit last November.
“In spite of the several but limited investigations and my visit, it is impossible to monitor and document claims of mass rape,” she added.
She attributed difficulty of conducting thorough investigation on mass rape claims to the absence of the evidence which meets requirements for holding objective and neutral probes without fear or nepotism or revenge.
Manjoo, who concluded a 12-day visit to Sudan on Sunday, said she visited Tabit accompanied by government troops and UN officials, noting she met with several women but was unable to hold individual meetings with any of the victims.
“I found them all in a state of denial and silence and we need to conduct further investigations to find out what really happened there,” she said
Last November, social media extensively circulated testimonies of victims from Tabit, a village 45 kilometres south-west of El-Fashir, capital of North Darfur, claiming that 200 women and minors were raped by Sudanese army soldiers.
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 authorise a second investigation and called publicly for an exit strategy for the joint mission from Darfur.
(ST)