While Andrew Stroehlein and the rest of the regular Daily Brief team take a well-deserved break, I'll be stepping in to share an article from HRW's weekly newsletter the Week in Rights. - Paul Aufiero
Women and other civilians in West Darfur have been subject to a staggering number of rapes and other war crimes in recent months.
Between April and June, the Rapid Support Forces (RSF), an independent military force, and allied militias in Sudan raped several dozen women and girls in West Darfur’s capital as well as those fleeing fighting. Many appear to have been targeted because of their ethnicity or because they were known activists.
Since the start of armed conflict in Sudan on April 15, the RSF and predominantly Arab allied militias have carried out repeated attacks on towns and villages in the West Darfur state. These attacks have mainly targeted areas inhabited by one of the main non-Arab communities, the Massalit.
Attacks in the city of El Geneina began on April 24 and continued through late June, causing numerous civilian deaths and injuries, and forcing over 366,000 people to flee to nearby Chad.
In late July, Human Rights Watch interviewed in Chad nine women and a 15-year-old girl from El Geneina who are survivors of rape and other forms of sexual violence.
In almost all instances reported to HRW, those responsible for the rapes also committed other grave abuses including beatings, killings, looting, or burning homes, businesses, or government buildings.
One woman we spoke to remains haunted by the attack. “I cry often,” she said. “And when I cry, my throat hurts. I can’t sleep, I can’t feel normal. When I am walking outside, I keep getting lost. I can’t find my way when I try to go anywhere.”
Sexual violence committed in the context of an armed conflict is a war crime. Concerned governments should ensure support for rape survivors and investigations into violence, and perpetrators should be brought to justice.
People in Darfur should know they are not forgotten. And abusers should know the world is watching.
Read the latest edition of the Week in Rights here.