According to a new UN report, Sudan’s Rapid Support Forces were accused of multiple gang rapes. The cases could amount to war crimes as well as crimes against humanity, alleged in a new UN report that recounts a catastrophic pattern of abuses carried out by the RSF, purportedly involved in a protracted running conflict with Sudan’s national army.

Common Violence and Indiscriminate Victimization of Women and Young Girls

The UN report shows that the RSF forces are the primary perpetrators of the documented cases of GBV in the conflict areas of Greater Khartoum, Darfur, and Gezira. The report argues that the actions are aimed at scaring the civilians, mainly targeting those who are assumed to be opposing the RSF. UN investigators show some shocking cases of sexual violence committed during the attacks by RSF, such as attacks on the shelters for displaced civilians and when occupying urban areas. Ruthless tactics defined the violence in Darfur as RSF soldiers allegedly used firearms, knives, and whips to threaten or coerce victims.

UN Calls for Accountability and Expanded ICC Jurisdiction

UN officials appealed for a responsibility to put a close end to the cycles of violence. The UN investigative head, Joy Ngozi Ezeilo, said that “Without a solution through accountability, a cycle of hatred and violence continues” and demands deterrence of such horrors not repeated. The Report to the UN Security Council calls for expanding the International Criminal Court’s Darfur-only jurisdiction to all parts of Sudan with a “Specialized Tribunal to give judgment for crimes committed throughout the country.”

The actions of RSF in Sudan have sparked international condemnation. The United States last week sanctioned Algoney Hamdan Daglo Musa, brother to the RSF leader Mohamed Hamdan Daglo, with claims that he bought arms to help the RSF forces. Conflicts have displaced more than 11 million people, with 25 million facing extreme hunger, putting the whole nation in a humanitarian emergency. Darfur: Human rights organizations have now recorded serious violence against Masalit. They have reported that these acts of violence may amount to genocide.

Regional organizations, the Strategic Initiative for Women in the Horn of Africa (SIHA), have documented gang rapes and violence against women in the village of al-Seraiha; some survivors reportedly were traumatized that they took their own lives. SIHA appeals to the UN Security Council to take decisive steps toward ending this violence and imposing selective sanctions that immediately stop arms transfers fueling the conflict.

As Sudan teeters at the edge of famine, pressure is mounting on international leaders to intervene, prevent further violence in this crisis, and stop violence in a situation that has very grave implications for regional stability, according to UN leaders.