32 cases of rape documented in one week within Sudanese city
A medical organisation has recorded 32 cases of rape against girls within one week in the Sudanese city of El-Fasher, according to the Sudan Tribune.
The Sudan Doctors Network released a report on November 16th, in which it revealed that the assaults had been committed against girls who were either residing in the city or fleeing towards the nearby town of Tawila.
El-Fasher is the capital of Sudan’s North Darfur state and was captured by the paramilitary Rapid Support Forces (RSF), who seized control from the national military on October 26th.
Since El-Fasher’s capture, the RSF have inflicted mass atrocities on residents, which the International Criminal Court ruled may amount to war crimes.
According to The New Arab plus agencies, the Doctors Network stated that the assaults “reveal the extent of the disorder and systematic abuses facing women and girls in areas controlled by the RSF, amid the absence of protection and a complete lack of accountability.”
The Network demanded an urgent and independent international investigation into the RSF’s crimes while emphasising the equally pressing need to protect survivors and witnesses of RSF atrocities.
Adam Regal, who is the spokesman for the Coordination of Refugees and Displaced Persons in Darfur, revealed that over 150 cases of sexual violence had been documented in and around El-Fasher since it came under RSF control up until the start of November.
The RSF’s capture of El-Fasher was a major strategic triumph for the group and the outcome of a brutal 18-month siege on the city, characterised by a total blockade of food and humanitarian supplies alongside frequent large-scale attacks targeting civilians.
The siege was part of a wider campaign to claim control of the last remaining urban centre in the Darfur region still held by the military, who the RSF have been at war with since April 2023 after a power struggle turned violent.
Sudan Tribune, Maghrebi.org, The New Arab plus agencies
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