Sudan 'fails to probe rapes'

2007-08-22 08:30

Geneva - The United Nations top human rights office released gruesome new details of rapes of Darfur women, reportedly by soldiers and government militia, and accused the Sudanese government of failing to investigate.

A report by the office of Louise Arbour, UN high commissioner for human rights, said: "The abuses may also constitute war crimes."

It said that members of the Sudanese armed forces and allied militiamen allegedly subjected about 50 women to multiple rapes and other forms of violence in an attack on the village of Deribat in late December, adding that they abducted many children.

The report said Deribat was one of nine villages attacked in the eastern Jebel Marra region of Darfur at the time, adding that 36 civilians were killed and many people were driven from their homes.

Kids beaten by abductors

It said: "Interviews indicate that the abducted women were systematically raped." The report was compiled by a team of UN human rights investigators.

"Some children were beaten by their abductors and they were exposed to the traumatic scenes of rape," said the report.

According to the report, testimony from victims indicated that the attacks were committed by members of the Sudanese armed forces and affiliated groups.

Arbour's office urged the Sudanese government to "establish an independent body to investigate abduction, rape and sexual slavery committed in the region," and said the suspects should be brought to justice.

The office said in a report last April that the military and its allies had been using rape as part of a wider assault on people belonging to the same ethnic group as some Darfur rebels.

Women 'forced to cook for abductors'

The report said UN representatives presented the initial findings to local authorities in Darfur, but "no investigations were carried out by the authorities".

Sudanese government reaction was not immediately available. Rahma Slih Elobied of the Sudanese mission to the UN in Geneva said she was unable to comment because she had yet to see the report.

The report said a woman who had been abducted from Deribat with her 16-year-old daughter described how the women were raped in front of each other. Those who resisted would be beaten with sticks, said the report.

According to the report, the women suffered physical injuries and psychological trauma from the repeated rapes by many of the attackers. It said: "A number of women became pregnant as a result of the rape."

The women were forced to cook and serve food to their abductors, but received only leftovers to eat, according to the report.

According to UN estimates, Darfur had been the scene of a bloody four-year conflict between government-backed militias and rebel forces that had so far seen more than 200 000 people killed and at least 2.5 million driven from their homes.

- AP