Sudan UN Human Rights spokesperson Seif Magango on sexual violence in conflict

“A report we have just issued this morning lays bare the brutality and magnitude of conflict-related sexual violence in Sudan since fighting broke out more than three years ago, and its profound, long-term impacts on victims, families and communities,” he said.

The UN Human Rights report issued Tuesday lays bare the brutality and magnitude of conflict-related sexual violence in Sudan since the outbreak of the conflict in April 2023, and its profound, long-term impacts on victims, families and communities.

“There were at least 546 incidents of conflict-related sexual violence in Sudan between 15 April 2023 to mid-April this year, affecting at least 838 victims -- according to our own verification. But these figures represent only the tip of the iceberg, as most cases go unreported,” Magango said.

The UN Human Rights Office verified incidents of conflict-related sexual violence in 16 of the 18 states of Sudan from the beginning of the conflict to mid-April this year, affecting at least 838 victims – 539 women, 284 girls, eight men and seven boys. The persistent underreporting has obscured the full scale of the prevalence of sexual violence.

“Almost a quarter of the incidents documented involved gang rape. In one case, a girl was gangraped by at least 10 men. Other acts that have been committed, besides rape and gang rape, include sexual slavery, forced marriage, forced prostitution, sexual torture, and trafficking for the purpose of sexual violence,” said the spokesperson.

The report also documents the deaths of at least 13 victims (women, men and children), mostly following brutal gang rapes. The youngest was nine years old. Many more suffered from serious medical complications exacerbated by the absence of functioning health facilities. At least 59 women and girls became pregnant or bore children from rape.

“Some of these abhorrent acts may amount to war crimes. And in Darfur in particular, there are reasonable grounds to believe that some acts of sexual violence committed in the context of widespread and systematic attacks against the civilian population, may also amount to crimes against humanity,” he said.

Sexual violence has been perpetrated as retaliation based on perceived affiliation with specific parties, in addition to ethnically motivated attacks, the report finds. Many ethnic Masalit victims from West Darfur shared that attackers asked about their tribe before raping them.

“Most of the incidents we verified were attributed to men in Rapid Support Forces uniforms, and RSF affiliates and Arab militia Somehave also been attributed to the Sudanese Armed Forces and affiliated security actors and militias,” said Magango.

“This report warns that unless these patterns and impacts of conflict-related sexual violence are addressed through justice, victim-centred responses and efforts to tackle stigma and discrimination, peace and social cohesion in Sudan risk being undermined for years to come,” he said.

“We call for all perpetrators, including those exercising command responsibility, to be fully held to account, and for victims to be guaranteed access to effective remedy, including reparation. We urge the parties to the conflict to, among other things, take concrete and verifiable measures to prevent sexual violence,” Magango added.

“The international community should ensure that justice and accountability remain central to its support for efforts towards a ceasefire and resolution of the conflict,” he said.

ENDS

For more information and media requests, please contact:

In Geneva

Ravina Shamdasani - ravina.shamdasani@un.org

Jeremy Laurence - jeremy.laurence@un.org

In Nairobi

Seif Magango - seif.magango@un.org

In New York

Laura Gelbert - gelbert@un.org

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