SUDAN: Women Abducted, Raped and Kept as Sex Slaves following the December 2006 Attacks on Deribat

[21 August 2007] - The Government of the Sudan must protect women and children from sexual and gender-based violence, says a new report from the Office of the High Commissioner for Human Rights that details cases of abduction, rape and sexual violence in South Darfur.

The report, a follow-up to one issued in April 2007, contains testimonies from victims and eyewitnesses describing how women were abducted, kept as sex slaves or subjected to other human rights violations in Deribat and surrounding towns by the Sudanese Armed Forces (SAF) and affiliated groups. These and other violations occurred in late December 2006 in the wake of air and ground attacks on civilians in the area.

The report, prepared in cooperation with the United Nations Mission in Sudan (UNMIS), stresses the Government’s responsibility for the actions of the armed forces and other informal allied groups, notably the Popular Defense Forces and the Southern Liberation Army/Abu Gasim faction. The report says the abuses may also constitute war crimes, recalling that no investigation had been carried out by the Sudanese Government. Local authorities have indicated that they have forwarded the allegations to the Sudanese Armed Forces. Meanwhile, Sudan's Advisory Council on Human Rights has informed UNMIS that it is proposing to establish an investigation committee jointly with the African Union Mission in Sudan to inquire into the allegations contained in the report.

Among its recommendations, the report urges:

• The Government and rebel factions to cease all attacks against civilians, especially women and children;
• The Government to establish an independent body to investigate abduction, rape and sexual slavery committed in the region, and those suspected of being responsible should be brought to justice in trials that meet international standards of fairness. The results of the investigation should be made public;
• The Government to suspend immediately, pending investigations, any member of the Sudanese Armed Forces suspected of having committed or ordered rape, abduction and other forms of sexual violence;
• The Government to issue immediate clear instructions to all troops under its command including PDF and other militias that rape and other forms of sexual violence will not be tolerated;
• The Government to undertake a review its legislation, in particular articles 145 and 149 of the 1991 Criminal Code, so that women are not deterred from reporting rape through fear that their claims will be associated with the crime of adultery· The African Union to maintain a presence in the area; this should be negotiated with the non signatories of the Darfur Peace Agreement.

Further information

• Report on the Situation of Human Rights in Darfur (Group of Experts on Darfur appointed by the UN Human Rights Council, June 2007)
• Concluding Observations of the Committee on the Rights of the Child for Sudan's OPSC Report (June 2007)
• Children's Rights in the Sudan: An analysis based on the CRC reports (Save the Children Sweden - Eastern and Central Africa Region, October 2006)
• Beyond Firewood: Fuel Alternatives and Protection Strategies for Refugee Women and Girls (Women's Commission for Refugee Women and Children, March 2006)
• CRIN's page on Sudan