SudanHis Rapid Support Forces, the paramilitary group fighting Sudan’s national army, has been accused of large-scale attacks involving sexual violence and gang rape, according to a UN investigation released Tuesday.

The Independent International Fact-Finding Mission for Sudan said in its report that the RSF’s actions may amount to war crimes and crimes against humanity, including torture, rape, sexual slavery and ethnic and gender-based persecution.

Rights groups have previously accused the RSF of a multitude of atrocities against civilians in Sudan, including rape and genocide.

An earlier one UN The fact-finding mission last month said both sides in the conflict could be guilty of atrocities.

But the new report found that the majority of sexual violence was committed by the RSF. It said gender-based violence was mainly documented in Greater Khartoum, Darfur and Gezira and was part of a pattern aimed at terrorizing and punishing civilians for perceived ties to opponents and suppressing any opposition to their advances.

“The scale of sexual violence that we have documented in Sudan is staggering,” said Mohamed Chande Othman, president of the fact-finding mission.

“The situation facing vulnerable civilians, especially women and girls of all ages, is deeply alarming and requires an urgent response.”

“The scale of sexual violence we have documented in Sudan is staggering”

– Mohamed Chande Othman, UN information mission

According to the report, sexual violence against women occurred during RSF offensives and during the occupation of urban areas by its fighters. He said it also happened during attacks on shelters for internally displaced people or civilians fleeing fighting.

The report added that sexual crimes were committed “with particular cruelty” in the vast western Darfur region, including the use of “firearms, knives and whips to intimidate or coerce victims while using derogatory, racist or sexist slurs and death threats.”

Joy Ngozi Ezeilo, another investigator, said those responsible for the violations should be held accountable.

“Without accountability, the cycle of hatred and violence will continue. We must end impunity and hold the perpetrators accountable,” he said.

“The responsibility and shame for these heinous acts should be placed solely on the perpetrators,” said Mona Rishmawi, who was also part of the mission.

According to UN Security Council Resolution 1593, adopted in 2005, ICC has had jurisdiction over crimes committed in Darfur since 1 July 2002, but the fact-finding mission requested that this jurisdiction be extended to the rest of the country.

“Unless the jurisdiction of the International Criminal Court is expanded to cover the whole of Sudan and an independent judicial mechanism is established that works in tandem and complementarity with the ICC, the perpetrators of these crimes will continue to tear Sudan apart causing terror and havoc,” said Rishmawi. .

“The Specter of Genocide”

Middle East Eye previously had reported on acts of sexual violence, including gang rape, committed by RSF troops in Gezira. This includes an incident where a young woman was raped by 16 RSF soldiers.

Gezira, an agricultural state located between the White and Blue Niles, has been the site of alleged atrocities by RSF fighters for the past two weeks since one of the paramilitaries’ top commanders defected to join the Sudanese army.

Sudan: RSF kills dozens of civilians in Gezira after commander quits army

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More than 100 people have been killed in the violence, sexual violence against women and girls in reprisal attacks, according to reports by human rights groups.

Earlier this month, Abu Aqla Keikal, a senior RSF commander based in Gezira, defected and surrendered to the Sudanese army, which has been at war with the paramilitary group since April 2023.

The army later pardoned Keikal for the atrocities committed under his command.

Horn of Africa Strategic Women’s Initiative (SIHA), a regional women’s rights organization, said it documented 25 cases of sexual violence by the RSF between October 21 and 24.

According to SIHA, women in the village of al-Seraiha were tortured and gang-raped, leading some of them to take their own lives.

“Sudan is at a crucial juncture, with the ominous specter of genocide looming over the country,” the organization said. It called on the United Nations Security Council to take steps to restore peace in Sudan and protect civilians, and to establish an ad hoc UN criminal tribunal for Sudan.

It also called for a halt to arms transfers to Sudan through specific sanctions.

The US imposed this month PENALTIES on Algoney Hamdan Daglo Musa, the younger brother of RSF leader Mohamed Hamdan Daglo (known as Hemeti), accusing him of directing arms purchases for paramilitary forces and prolonging the war in Sudan.

“Sudan is at a crucial moment with the ominous specter of genocide looming over the country”

– Horn of Africa Women’s Strategic Initiative

The US Treasury said Daglo Musa controls a company in Dubai, which acted as a front for the RSF to supply them with weapons during the current conflict.

General Abdel Fattah al-Burhan, Sudan’s de facto head of state and head of the national army, said in an address to the UN General Assembly last month, that the RSF had “received political and logistical support at local and regional levels”, without naming the UAE.

Middle East Eye has widely reported on how United Arab Emirates became the main regional patron of the RSF.

Fighting between the RSF and the Sudanese army has displaced more than 11 million people and caused a spiraling humanitarian crisis.

At least 13 areas of the country are at risk of famine, and more than 25 million people are facing acute hunger, according to World Food Programme.

In May, Human Rights Watch said that violence in Darfur by RSF militias could constitutes genocide against the Masalit community.