Sudanese Official Confirms Rape Case by Security Forces

Central Reserve Forces beat a Sudanese female protester in Khartoum on March 14, 2022 (photo activist)

March 16, 2022 (KHARTOUM) – The young woman was indeed gang-raped by the security forces, confirmed the head of Sudan’s Combating Violence against Women Unit (CVAW) Selima Khalifa Ishaq on Wednesday.

The confirmation comes after reports saying the security forces on March 14 “attempted to rape” the student. Also, the UN expert on human rights in Sudan Adama Dieng spoke about “allegations” of mass rape.

“Survivals of sexual assaults find difficulties to share and speak about the rape. However, the student was actually raped,” the Sudanese official said.

The student whose identity was not disclosed is a South Sudanese national, the Sudan Tribune has learnt.

The embassy of South Sudan in Khartoum has formed a team of lawyers to support the survival to file a lawsuit against the security forces.

Ishaq said the survivors need first medical care and psychological support in the first stage and legal support after that.

The student who did not participate in the anti-coup protests was in a minibus returning home when the security forces stationed at the Massalamiya bridge in central Khartoum fired tear gas in the vehicle forcing the passengers to disembark.

But she remained on the bus where they found her alone.

The Sudanese authorities did not react to the incident which took place on March 14.

In a tweet posted one day after the rape, the UN expert Adama said he was “Shocked by allegations that a young woman, bus passenger, was gang-raped by the Central Reserve Police officers in Khartoum”.

Dieng further called on the Sudanese authorities to investigate the attack to identify those responsible and bring them to justice.

The new sexual attack triggered protests in Khartoum and other cities to denounce the increasing sexual assaults by the security forces after the coup of Gen al-Burhan in October 2021.

Last December, UN Human Rights Office in Khartoum received 13 reports of rape and mass rape by the security forces during the pro-democracy protests in the Sudanese capital

Sudanese women participate actively in the anti-coup protests spearheaded by the Resistance Committees. Many women are also are leading members in these neighbourhood structures.

Activists say the sexual assaults are part of the military violence to quell the nearly five-month protest movement in the country.

(ST)