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NGO Accuses Sudan of Darfur Rapes

The Monitor (Kampala)
NEWS
July 20, 2004
Posted to the web July 20, 2004

By Elias Biryabarema
Kampala
Amnesty International (AI) has accused the Sudanese government of using rape as
a weapon of war against black Africans in the western region of Darfur.
A report released on Monday titled "Rape as a Weapon of War", the NGO charged
that the Sudanese government had deliberately used the ruthless Janjaweed
militia to rape African women as a way to brutalise and humiliate them. AI said
the crime is being committed to frighten the black community which Khartoum
accuses of insubordination.
"Five to six men would rape us, one after the other, for hours during six days,
every night," AI quoted a woman describing her ordeal. The report said girls as
young as eight are being raped and used as sex slaves. "The mass rapes in
Darfur are war crimes and crimes against humanity but the international
community is doing very little to stop it" said a press release issued
yesterday.
Despite regional and international focus on Darfur and promises by the Sudanese
government to disarm the Janjawid militia, AI insisted there is no protection
for women and girls.
The report, based on hundreds of testimonies, reveals how women and girls are
raped, abducted and forced into sexual slavery by the Janjawid. In almost all
attacks on villages recorded by AI, the government army was either directly
involved or are direct witnesses.
The Darfur conflict pits two rebel groups; Justice and Equality Movement (JEM)
and Sudanese Liberation Army (SLA) on one side and the Sudanese government on
the other.
The rebels took up arms accusing the Khartoum's Arab-dominated regime of
marginalising the region. African Union-brokered talks broke down on Saturday.
The rebels accused the government of not fulfilling conditions agreed to
earlier.

   

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