‘Govt. forces in Sudan’s Blue Nile abusing civilians’: HRW

Sudanese government forces and allied militias are severely harassing and abusing civilians on a large scale in government-held areas in Blue Nile state. People from the Blue Nile who sought refuge in neighbouring South Sudan had fled abusive treatment in several government-held towns or villages along the road connecting Damazin, the state capital, and the town of Kormuk on the Ethiopian border. The abuses – often during house-to-house searches for rebels – included rapes, beatings, and theft.  “Entire communities are trapped in camp-like conditions behind government lines, terrorised by government forces,” said Daniel Bekele, HRW Africa director. “In addition to indiscriminate bombing, Sudanese government forces are getting away with abusive and illegal tactics under a guise of counterinsurgency, including rape, arbitrary detentions, and killings.” Dozens of civilians and sought refuge in South Sudan described the killings, rapes, and beatings to Human Rights Watch (HRW). The international organisation published some of their stories today in a short report on its website, under the title Sudan: Soldiers, Militias Killing, Raping Civilians, urging the UN and the AU to investigate the abuses. Rapes Among the 42 refugees HRW interviewed in South Sudan’s Maban County in November, five said they were raped by members of security forces or militiamen, and twelve related that relatives had been raped. Sexual violence occurred during home raids or house-to-house searches by security forces.  “Refugees also reported being detained and subjected to ill-treatment and torture. Most of the reported incidents took place within the past year. Several relatives of rape survivors said they were beaten up, threatened, or turned away when they tried to report the rapes to local authorities, police, or army officials,” the HRW reports. “Many refugees said they or their relatives were beaten or detained, including when they tried to leave the government-controlled towns or villages. Some of the men who had been detained said that government authorities tried to force them to join the Sudanese army; several described severe beatings and torture by security forces. One 21-year-old farmer who was detained with 13 other men said two of them died from beatings in custody.” The vast majority were Ingessana, the ethnic group of Malik Agar, chairman of the Sudan Revolutionary Front (SRF, an alliance of the main rebel movements) and of the Sudan People’s Liberation Movement-North (SPLM-N), fighting the Sudanese government in the Blue Nile and South Kordofan, after war broke out in both states in 2011.The Ingessana appear to have been targeted because of their perceived support for the rebels. Militias The refugees attributed most of the abuses to Sudanese forces, including the paramilitary Rapid Support Forces (RSF), under the command of National Intelligence and Security Service (NISS). The RSF has carried out attacks on civilians in Darfur and Southern Kordofan over the last year. “Many of the refugees,” HWR, says, “also described rapes, killings, harassment, and cattle theft by a militia drawn from the Fellata – a nomadic ethnic group whose members the Sudanese government has recruited into auxiliary forces since conflict erupted in Blue Nile.” “Under Russian and Chinese pressure, the UN Security Council hasn’t delivered on its threat of sanctions, and has left persecuted civilians across Blue Nile and Southern Kordofan to fend for themselves,” said Philippe Bolopion, UN director at HRW. “The Security Council should wake up to the tragedy unfolding in South Kordofan and Blue Nile, verify the facts, and impose both an arms embargo on the government and targeted sanctions on individuals responsible for the abuses.” Since the war broke out between the government and the SPLM-N in 2011, attacks on civilians and persistent indiscriminate bombing in the rebel areas of both the Blue Nile and South Kordofan have forced hundreds of thousands of people to flee. Sudan’s refusal to allow humanitarian aid into rebel-held areas, in violation of international law, has deprived communities of food and basic services. The bombing and deprivation of aid has forced more than 170,000 people to flee to refugee camps in South Sudan and Ethiopia, others to cross into government-controlled areas in search of food and essential services. File photo: Government forces pillaging a village in Darfur (Brian Steidle/US Holocaust Memorial Museum)