UNITED NATIONS (Reuters) – Sexual violence in Sudan is occurring on a large scale, while fighting in the Darfur region is reigniting ethnic tensions that could engulf the country, United Nations officials warned the Security Council on Wednesday.
“The distressing accounts of sexual violence that we hear from people who have sought refuge in Port Sudan are just a small fraction of what is happening on a sickening scale in conflict hotspots across the country,” said senior U.N. aid official Edem Wosornu.
The war broke out on April 15, four years after the overthrow of former President Omar al-Bashir during a popular uprising. The conflict started due to disagreements between the army (SAF) and the paramilitary Rapid Support Forces (RSF), which jointly staged a coup in 2021, over a plan for a transition to civilian rule.
“The fighting in Darfur is reopening old wounds of ethnic tensions from past conflicts in the region,” said Martha Ama Akyaa Pobee, a senior U.N. official on Africa, addressing the council. “This is deeply concerning and could potentially lead to a prolonged ethnic conflict with regional spillovers.”
In the early 2000s, the RSF was formed from the “Janjaweed” militias, which helped the government suppress a rebellion by mainly non-Arab groups in Darfur. The U.N. estimates that around 300,000 people were killed, and Sudanese leaders are wanted by the International Criminal Court for genocide and crimes against humanity.
The ongoing war has forced over 4 million people to flee their homes, with 3.2 million internally displaced and nearly 900,000 seeking refuge in Chad, Egypt, South Sudan, and other countries, according to the U.N.
“The humanitarian consequences are exacerbated by credible evidence suggesting serious violations of international humanitarian law by both the SAF and the RSF, which could amount to war crimes and crimes against humanity,” said Britain’s U.N. Ambassador Barbara Woodward.
Russia’s Deputy U.N. Ambassador Anna Evstigneeva expressed concern about the situation in Sudan and pledged support for the Sudanese authorities. She criticized Western countries for meddling in Sudan’s internal political process and denounced unilateral sanctions.
Both sides in the Sudan conflict have claimed military progress in recent days, but there are no indications of a decisive breakthrough. Efforts by Saudi Arabia and the United States to broker a ceasefire have stalled.
U.S. Ambassador to the U.N. Linda Thomas-Greenfield told reporters after the council meeting that both sides bear responsibility for ethnic and sexual violence, stating, “There are no innocents here.”
Sudan’s U.N. Ambassador Al-Harith Idriss Al-Harith Mohamed assured the Security Council that Sudanese troops “are not involved in any sexual or gender violence, and the party responsible for these atrocities is well known.”
There was no immediate response from the RSF following the U.N. Security Council meeting. The RSF has affirmed its commitment to upholding international humanitarian law and vowed to prevent any abuses by its forces or others against civilians.
(Reporting by Michelle Nichols; Editing by Cynthia Osterman)
Credit: The Star : News Feed
