Cairo: Sudan's paramilitary Rapid Support Forces (RSF) have been accused of subjecting women and girls to sexual slavery and gang rape as part of their war tactics, according to a report by Amnesty International released on Thursday.

The RSF has been engaged in a brutal conflict with the Sudanese army since 15 April 2023, in a war that the United Nations describes as one of the worst humanitarian crises globally. Although the military regained control of the capital Khartoum in March, the country remains effectively split.

Systematic abuse to control and displace

"The RSF have carried out widespread sexual violence across towns and villages in Sudan to humiliate, assert control, and displace communities," Amnesty said in its 30-page report titled “They Raped All of Us.”

Deprose Muchena, Amnesty's senior director for regional human rights impact, strongly condemned the actions: "The RSF's attacks on civilians are shameful and cowardly, and any countries supporting the RSF, including by supplying them with weapons, shares in their shame."

Survivors share harrowing accounts

The report, based on interviews with about 30 survivors and their families, documents horrific instances of abuse committed in four Sudanese states between April 2023 and October 2024, including in the Khartoum and Darfur regions.

One survivor, a 34-year-old mother of five, described being abducted from her home in May 2023 by seven RSF members. She said she was taken to a house where three other women were also held captive.

"I was detained in that house for 30 days where they kept raping me almost every day," she said.

"They released me after 30 days when I became very sick. They also kept repeatedly raping the other women. I know because I heard them cry every day."

Another woman, aged 27, was reportedly separated from her husband near a checkpoint and held in a shop for several days.

Her husband recalled: "They raped my wife for more than four consecutive days. They detained me in a separate shop. I could hear my wife scream as they raped her every day, but I was not able to help."

Sexual violence as punishment and intimidation

Several women told Amnesty that RSF fighters raped them after accusing them of supporting the Sudanese army. Others, particularly medical workers, were assaulted as punishment for failing to treat wounded fighters.

In October, a United Nations fact-finding mission reported widespread sexual violence in Sudan's conflict, attributing the majority of cases to RSF forces. The UN said the crimes included rape, gang rape, sexual exploitation, abductions, and even trafficking of women for sexual purposes, including across borders.

Denial from paramilitary forces

The RSF has denied the accusations, dismissing them as propaganda. However, both the RSF and the Sudanese army are currently under US sanctions and face allegations of war crimes.

Since the conflict erupted, tens of thousands of people have been killed, and around 12 million have been forced from their homes, according to UN figures. Rights organisations continue to document systematic human rights violations, including the occupation of civilian homes and other forms of abuse by armed groups.

AFP