The Rapid Support Forces (RSF) rejected accusations by the Strategic Initiative Network of Women of the Horn of Africa (Saiha) of involvement in abductions and enforced disappearances of women and girls as false.
The official spokesman for the Rapid Support Forces said in a press statement on Saturday that the command of the forces follows the actions of individuals, and does not allow any excesses issued by any member of its forces.
He pointed out that it is not possible to provide protection to any individual proven to have committed any violations of the law, noting the formation of a negative phenomena committee to try any individual in the field to prevent any abuses.
He added that the RSF is committed to international and humanitarian law and the rules of engagement in the war ignited by the former regime and its commanders in the armed forces.
The spokesman pointed to the regularity of voluntary return in Khartoum and other areas controlled by the Rapid Support Forces.
He accused the feminist network of working with the former regime to serve its goals of making false statements and condemnation after failing to achieve any victory on the field.
The statement noted that the leadership of the Rapid Support Forces welcomes any party that seeks to uncover the facts, and calls on the international community and human rights-related organizations to obtain information from their sources to access the correct information, not the audio information broadcast from the chambers of misguidance and failure – according to the statement.
Serious accusations and concerns
The denial of the rapid support came after the Horn of Africa Women’s Network (Saiha) has launched a campaign for the return and safety of missing women in Sudan, expressing concern about the escalation of enforced disappearances in areas controlled by the Rapid Support Forces.
According to the latest report issued by the Sudanese Group of Victims of Enforced Disappearances last December, 842 civilians were confirmed to have been forcibly disappeared, including 48 women and girls.
They stressed the urgent need to take swift action to address the escalating crime of enforced disappearance in Sudan, warning that Sudanese women remain at risk of abduction and enforced disappearance after “nine months of terror”.
The network pointed to the increasing number of missing persons and enforced disappearance of women, especially when the RSF entered a new area, raising questions about the possible role of the RSF in many of these cases.
In a report entitled “Nine Months of Terror”, It pointed to the horrific impact of enforced disappearances on women and girls, their families and communities living in a state of grief and terror. Fears are also exacerbated by the possibility that women and girls may be subjected to violence and sexual exploitation while in detention.
It confirmed its monitoring of cases of women and girls being enslaved and forced to cook and perform household tasks of RSF soldiers in Khartoum, and similar reports emerged recently in Wad Madani, the capital of Gezira state.
Also cautioned that the reported number of missing women and girls may not fully reflect the magnitude of this crisis, due to fear of stigma and lack of reporting mechanisms as well as fear of reprisals, which may contribute to the reluctance of families to report in the event of the disappearance or loss of women and girls.
Besides the increasing number of missing women and girls, there are several cases of underage girls being abducted by the RSF in front of their families. Two sisters, aged 15 and 13, were taken at gunpoint in front of their mother from the Kalakla area, south of the capital Khartoum, by the Rapid Support Forces (RSF).
The report pointed out that abducted girls are usually transferred to unknown destinations, which causes shock and deep grief to their families, as they suffer from fear for them without the slightest way to know their whereabouts and fate.
The network monitored incidents of abduction of children and their detention for a few days before returning them to families.
The RSF is accused of involvement in widespread looting of homes, markets and other civilian facilities. Residents trapped in areas of military operations face severe shortages of food, water and medicine.
With insecurity and the proliferation of militants, violations against women and girls are escalating in an appalling manner.
The report called on individuals, organizations and communities to join a campaign against the enforced disappearance of women and girls in Sudan, stressing the need to shed more light on these crimes and their horrific scale, and to demand justice and work for the safety and return of women.
It urged more monitoring of enforced disappearances and the opening of reports with local prosecutors, or documentation by human rights organizations and international mechanisms while maintaining complete confidentiality.
In August, Sudan’s Unit for Combating Violence against Women and Children warned of a rise in enforced disappearances of women and girls in warehouses and hotels in Khartoum and the western Darfur region for the purpose of sexual exploitation.In what is similar to the kidnapping of Yazidi women in Iraq by ISIS operatives.
With the expansion of the Rapid Support Forces in the central state of Gezira last December, the unit announced that it had monitored a number of rape cases, pointing to the difficulty of the monitoring process in light of the complex security conditions in the state, and the possibility that there will be more cases that did not receive assistance.
they called for swift and serious action to end this tragedy and put an end to the horrific human rights violations against women and girls in Sudan.
The Preliminary Committee of the Sudan Medical Association condemned the systematic attacks against Sudanese girls and women, warning that wars are not fought on women’s bodies.
Calling for broad international pressure to stop these crimes, which she described as “savage and inhumane.”
She accused the RSF of using rape as a weapon in its wars, noting that this happened during the Darfur war that broke out in 2003 and the dispersal of the civilian sit-in in front of the headquarters of the General Command of the Armed Forces on June 3, 2019. They have returned and used it during the war in Khartoum and other parts of Sudan since mid-April.
