Sudan Events – Follow-ups
The Sudan Doctors’ Syndicate Preliminary Committee revealed on Saturday that 47 rape cases occurred in villages in eastern Al-Jazirah, including a fatal incident involving an 11-year-old girl, following a retaliatory campaign by the Rapid Support Forces (RSF) over the past few days. Adiba Ibrahim Al-Sayed, a member of the Omdurman branch of the Preliminary Committee of the Sudanese Doctors’ Syndicate, reported that 47 women were raped, including three minors, in eastern Al-Jazirah. The 11-year-old girl succumbed to severe bleeding, resulting in a coma that led to her death in the Hilaliya area.
Survivors were evacuated to a hospital in the eastern region, arriving in critical condition; some suffer from heavy bleeding, genital injuries, and cervical swelling, with three developing vesicovaginal fistulas. The committee has contacted the UN Gender and Human Rights Organization for urgent assistance and protection of the survivors and to begin treatment arrangements in neighboring countries.
Adiba called on volunteer doctors in Kassala and Gedaref states to head to the hospital to aid in treating survivors, noting the lack of response from authorities despite repeated pleas and increasing cases that are challenging to manage under current conditions.
In a related context, the Preliminary Committee of the Sudanese Doctors’ Syndicate issued a press statement today offering guidelines and advice for rape survivors, including high-privacy medical examinations upon consent, clinical testing, sample collection from the genital tract for forensic and STI testing, and provision of treatment by a comprehensive medical team.
A rights organization, “BBC,” reported contact with six women contemplating suicide out of fear of rape, as the RSF forces continue advancing.
Hala Al-Karib, Executive Director of the Strategic Initiative for Women in the Horn of Africa, told BBC: “The RSF launched a retaliatory campaign in areas controlled by Kikel, looting, killing civilians resisting the attacks, and raping women and young girls.” Al-Karib explained that the initiative documents gender-based violence during the Sudanese conflict and recorded three suicides among women in Al-Jazirah last week. Two of them were in the village of Sareeh and the third in the village of Rafaa.
She mentioned that the sister of the woman who committed suicide in Sareeh explained that she took her life after being raped by RSF soldiers in front of her father and brother, who were later killed. Al-Karib noted that evidence of rape has emerged from only two villages, out of nearly 50 villages recently attacked, indicating that the numbers could be higher due to communication outages with some areas.
