Figure 4. CMR in Selected camps after the conflict started getting wider international attention in Feb/Mar 2004. Source: Mutheee, 2007:24
by the attackers. In some cases the girls were raped in ceremonies known as the
‘initiation to womanhood’ by armed militias (UNHCHR, 2006).
As the number of IDP camps grew, women had to leave their camps to search for firewood, grass for thatching, food for their remaining animals and even provisions for themselves. For many women, firewood collection is the main income generating activity but these activities being disturbed by militias who roam in areas outside the camps, with the aim of attacking women and girls who are unaccompanied by men.
For instance, Fatouma, a 15 year-old from West Darfur, had an all too common story.
After leaving her IDP camp to look for firewood to both sell and cook with, a group of Arab militia who strayed freely on the camp border chased her and her companions. They held her overnight and gang-raped her repeatedly. The next day she found her way back to the camp, bleeding and dazed. Nine months later she gave birth to a light-skinned, soft-haired baby girl (UNHCHR, 2006).
In its July 2005 report “Access to Justice for Victims of Sexual Violence” in Darfur,the UNHCR assert that rape and gang rape continues to be perpetrated by armed elements in Darfur, some of whom are members of law enforcement agencies and the armed forces but the government appears either unable or unwilling to hold them accountable (UNHCHR, 2005).
Between August 2004 and May 2005, Human Right Organizations (HROs) in Western Darfur monitored and followed up on 39 incidents of rape, attempted rape and physical assault involving a total of 82 victims. Half of the incidents included more than one victim. The range of age of the victims was 7 to 60 years. In 15 cases, the victims were between 5 and 12 years old, while in 17 cases, the victims were between 12 and 18 years old and in 50 cases, the victims were over 18 years of age.
The perpetrators were described in the majority of cases as armed men wearing khaki uniforms or pro-government militia members, often with their faces covered. In most cases, the crimes took place on the outskirts of IDP camps (UNHCHR, 2005). The reporting patterns also show that many victims were too intimidated to report the crime, or lacked faith in the authorities. In 16 of the 39 incidents monitored by
HROs, the victims did not lodge a complaint with the police or wish to pursue legal action. In six cases the prosecutor in Western Darfur filed complaints against unknown perpetrators. In 18 of the incidents, complaints were lodged at the police station, but no action was taken. The police furthermore refused to provide information on those cases and denied having them on record. In eight cases, the police or prosecutor allegedly refused to investigate the complaint, despite medical evidence. In only two of the cases were the perpetrators prosecuted, convicted and sentenced. Both cases involved the rape of female minors by juvenile male offenders (UNHCHR, 2005).
Female victims of sexual crimes in Darfur are further victimised by often cumbersome, contradictory and discriminatory proceedings within the legal justice system. For example, legal aid for victims is rarely available and only provided to victims during investigative procedures if they are less than 18 years of age according to the Sudan Child Act of 2004. Until recently, a victim had to first get the signature of a medical examination by a certified doctor, although medical staff are desperately lacking. Victims must provide proof of age and are sometimes subjected to forced “medical exams” to determine their eligibility to a guardian, welfare officer or legal representative during police questioning.
Such questioning is often re-victimising for survivors and can result in prolonged periods of detention. As in other countries practicing Sharia, or traditional Islamic law, if an unmarried woman or girl is pregnant and cannot prove that she was raped, she can be charged with the capital crime of adultery.
To convict a man of the same offence, a confession or the testimony of four witnesses is required. For all these reasons, perpetrators are rarely held to account. At the time of writing, only one conviction for sexual violence had been prosecuted in Darfur since the crisis unfolded in 2003, despite reports of many thousands of rapes (International Rescue Committee, 2007).
Based on the above reports, rape and other forms of sexual violence to date have remained prevalent in the Darfur conflict. Those who bear the brunt of such maiming and misery are very young girls who and women who in most cases are infected with sexually transmitted diseases. Those who managed to survive are keeping their misery and pain to themselves mainly because they are too frightened to speak out or fear to be charged with the capital crime of adultery. Clearly the motive of these perpetrators is to render these women helpless and worthless. This in future could have a very severe impact on the possibility of ensuring a long lasting reconciliatory peace in Sudan.
Again the fact that most of these abuses can not be reported reflects a general mistrust of police and government authorities. An example is a case from Sisi in West Darfur which occurred in September 2007, where a member of the Central Reserve Police shot and killed a woman when she tried to protect her daughter from being sexually assaulted in her house (Human Rights Watch, 2008: 18). If important figures and government officials can act in such a manner it becomes very difficult for one to talk of enhancing human security in Darfur.
4.2.2 Human rights abuses by armed militia and the government’s failure to protect its population
One of the key problems as to why the situation in Darfur is deteriorating especially between 2004 and 2006 is because the Sudanese government has continued to follow a policy of supporting ethnic militias, coordinating or tolerating attacks on civilians (especially IDPs) and also permitting serious violations of international law (such as attacks on AU forces and humanitarian aid workers and their convoys) to go unpunished. According to the UNHCHR, these attackers were most often armed men riding horses or camels who wore military uniforms (described as “khaki” or
“camouflage” uniforms), jallabiya, or civilian clothes. Sometimes the perpetrators had their faces covered with a scarf and they usually traveled in groups. During attacks it was common for perpetrators to make racially or ethnically derogatory remarks. Victims and witnesses reported that attackers said: “kill all the Nuba”; “we have killed all the slaves”; “Fur are slaves”; and “we will be back and we will sexually assault you and so you will have Arab blood.” Solely with regard to acts of violence against women and girls, HROs have documented over 60 incidents (involving over 130 victims) perpetrated by members of armed militia between June and November 2005. Such forms of large scale attacks on civilians by Government forces apparently encouraged the militia to execute other abuses with impunity (UNHCHR, 2006).
Besides the issue of constant torture and victimization of the people of Darfur, reports from humanitarian agencies and international media also confirm that the situation in Darfur has affected the humanitarian aid workers and the AU peacekeeping force in
Darfur. On October 31st, 2006, Michael Bociurkiw of the U.N. Children’s Fund said
"Our biggest concern right now is that our hard-won gains could be easily lost if the situation continues. The situation is extremely difficult for aid workers and insecurity often prevents us from being able to access people," (Brickhill, 2007)
The “unimpeded access” promised by President Omar el-Beshir was largely a mockery. For example travel permits for Darfur would be issued to NGO workers but made valid only for three days; then the beneficiaries were told that they had to give seventy-two hours’ pre-flight notice before going, meaning that their permits would have expired by the time they were to be used. When they protested the Ministry of the Interior answered: “That is your problem, not ours (Brickhill, 2007).
While such pretence of “unimpeded access” drove humanitarian communities to extremes of frustration, AU soldiers operating within this region were frequently attacked and killed by the Janjaweeds. In October, 2005 the AMIS force suffered its first casualties where four soldiers and two civilian drivers were murdered in an ambush. “We are like sitting ducks” an army captain from Zambia told the Washington Post, saying he hoped for more armored personnel carriers and more ammunition (Cohen and O’Neill, 2006). Recently, Steve Bloomfield (Africa correspondent in Darfur) reported the nature in which AU soldiers had been killed.
Five African Union (AU) soldiers operating in Sudan's Darfur region have been killed in the worst attack on the peace-keeping force since its deployment in 2004.
The five Senegalese soldiers were fired upon while guarding a water point near the Chad border. The attack came the day after a helicopter carrying the AU's deputy commander was fired upon while traveling from Zalengi in Western Darfur to the AU mission's headquarters in El-Fasher, the capital of North Darfur (Bloomfield, 2007).