Armed people in Sudan’s Darfur region, including law enforcement officers and soldiers, are continuing to rape and sexually assault women, a new United Nations report said.
It stressed the authorities are “seemingly unable or unwilling to hold them accountable.”
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The document said many women do not report incidents of sexual assault because they fear reprisals and they are discouraged from coming forward, given the lack of redress for sexual violence.
This situation prevails despite the government of Sudan’s commitments undertaken a year ago in a joint communiqué with U.N. Secretary General Kofi Annan to investigate and punish sexual violence in Darfur.
The report, Access to Justice for Victims of Sexual Violence, said some police stations refuse to register and investigate complaints of sexual violence. When cases are registered, they are not adequately investigated, and authorities intimidate victims and witnesses into withdrawing charges, it added, noting that local and international humanitarian organizations are also targeted.
Sudan’s western Darfur region has been embroiled in a bloody conflict between the local black population and armed men who are reportedly backed by the Sudanese government. An estimated 180,000 people have been killed in the conflict, about two million people have been rendered homeless and many have been subjected to brutal attacks.