Sexual slavery in Sudan
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Muada:
"I have a lot of thoughts while I sleep. I remember all my family members. I wish our dad was still here because he provided for us, and we would feel safe and loved. Now they are gone, my heart is full of sadness."
WARNING: This video contains descriptions of violence and rape. Viewer discretion advised.
On December 31, 2023, the Rapid Support Forces, or RSF, launched an attack on Habila and other towns and villages in Sudan’s South Kordofan state.
RSF fighters were quick to defeat the Sudanese Armed Forces in the area.
Human Rights Watch documented that RSF fighters killed at least 56 civilians and unarmed soldiers, and raped 79 women and girls, although the true figures are likely far higher.
The United Nations and the African Union should urgently deploy a mission to protect civilians.
Muada’s father, husband and uncle were among dozens of men and boys killed by RSF fighters.
Muada:
"The fighters sat them outside and told them to hand over their money. They said,“there is no money.” They asked for their weapons, but there were none. They then pulled their triggers and shot them all. I was breastfeeding my baby, when I peeked to see what was going on they fired at me. Then I went back inside. The baby was okay. We went outside, and they left on their motorcycles. We found dead bodies on the ground."
Intisar:
"My two neighbors were living in the same house. One was a police officer. His name was Jaffar. His wife was with him. Jaffer was wearing his police uniform. When he heard the news he left home for the (police) headquarters. On his way to the headquarters he encountered RSF vehicles and was shot."
Jaffar wasn’t the only neighbor of Intisar’s who was killed by the RSF.
Intisar:
"Another neighbor of mine who was an older man. He was a farmer. His name was Abdallah. He was also shot and fell down in his courtyard."
As the RSF fighters killed men in Habila and the surrounding villages, they also took dozens of women captive at gunpoint.
RSF fighters abducted this young woman at gunpoint from her home in Habila.
Hania:
"There were 18 of us the day they took us away. Ten cars came. They took us to a camp. We were all put together, we mostly knew each other because we found 30 (women and girls) who were also brought from Habila. They made a corral, like for animals, with wires and sticks. Then then they put us in chains. Ten girls to one set of chains."
She was raped daily for three months by numerous RSF fighters, until she one day she was able to escape.
Hania:
"It’s stuck in my mind. It makes me cry to think about it. I’m absent minded. My head isn’t right. I cannot function normally. I cannot finish even the simplest tasks, to the degree people ask if I’ve lost my mind. I tell them after all the blood and dead people I’ve seen, my head wouldn’t be right."
The sexual violence inflicted on the women and girls, held in conditions of enslavement in the camp constitutes sexual slavery.
The acts of sexual violence and the killings which the women described are war crimes, and may constitute crimes against humanity.
The RSF ‘s deliberate destruction and looting of civilian property are also war crimes.
The international community should do more to ensure those responsible are held accountable.
Rapid Support Forces (RSF) fighters and allied militias have raped scores of women and girls, including in the context of sexual slavery, in Sudan’s South Kordofan state since September 2023, Human Rights Watch said today. These acts of sexual violence, which constitute war crimes and may constitute crimes against humanity, underscore the urgent need for meaningful international action to protect civilians and deliver justice.