Worldwide protests, social media outrage grow for Darfur rape claims

The mass rape that Sudanese soldiers allegedly committed in a village in North Darfur more than three weeks ago continues to incite people worldwide to rally for the victims and denounce the crime on social media.Calls for an independent inquiry into the allegations remain, after a doubtful UN-AU verification mission on 9 November, and the special prosecutor of Darfur’s investigations in the village. Medical specialists, however, stressed the difficulties of forensically proving a rape after more than two weeks. Sudanese people living in the French city of Cali held a protest rally on Friday, in which they denounced the collective rapes that Sudanese forces allegedly committed against many women in Tabit village on 31 October. Their memorandum to the Cali municipality and the UN demands an international independent investigation into the allegations of rape in Tabit, which lies 50 km south-west of El Fasher. This Tuesday, Sudanese in the diaspora in various parts of the world plan to do the same as they go out in demonstrations under the slogan of ‘Tabit Advocacy’. The protests are expected in large cities in the USA, the United Kingdom, Canada, France, Australia, Sweden, Norway, and Egypt, among others. Mohamed Haroon, the chairman of the Association of Darfuri in New York and organisation member of Tabit Advocacy, pointed out that the worldwide demonstrations are “intended to advocate for the victims, and stop the crimes committed by the Khartoum regime”. Tabit on Twitter Meanwhile, the number of people on Twitter who subscribed to hash tags related to the rape allegations in Tabit has risen to 15 million, according to a prominent Sudanese media figure, Khalid Aweys. Aweys is the initiator of social networking websites as part of a campaign that expresses solidarity with the rape victims. “The tweets on Tabit started with 2,000, and then jumped to 15 million worldwide on Thursday,” he said. In Khartoum, the Darfur Students Associations in universities and higher institutions said they will continue to speak to the people in the Sudanese capital about the soldiers’ sexual violence against women in Tabit village. They held a speech about this after a massive rally at El Neelain university. It was followed by students who went to downtown Khartoum, chanting slogans denouncing the rape and demanding taking the criminals to trial. On 9 November, a Unamid verification team investigated the allegations of rape of reportedly 200 women and girls in Tabit, and stated it found no evidence proving the claims. In an internal report, it later turned out that the team was heavily accompanied by the Sudanese army, which intimidated the villagers. Sudan has so far denied the rape accusations. It has charged the special prosecutor for crimes in Darfur to investigate the case. The government further refused to allow a second verification team into Tabit, despite repeated calls from the UN chief and the Security Council. Forensic proof disappears “It is difficult to prove a rape two to three weeks after the incident occurred,” according to Dr Zahra Ahmed Mahdi, a London-based doctor specialised in rape cases. In an interview with Radio Dabanga, she confirmed that the forensic proof of rape can be found from the first day until seven days later at most. That is how long semen can live inside the woman’s genitals. After it disappears, the only proof for rape is the appearance of a pregnancy. Dr Mahdi added that an anal rape can be detected from the first day until three days later. “Afterward the effects will face and the case can only be examined through DNA.” Regarding the circumcision of women, the specialist explained that with circumcised women and non-virgins, it is more difficult to determine if they are raped, unless the rape was accompanied by violence. Dr Mahdi advised all the women who were subjected to rape to go to the hospitals and health units immediately, in order to avoid sexually transmitted diseases. “There can be serious diseases transmitted through rape, e.g. HIV, hepatitis B, and reproductive system diseases.” ‘Do not feel ashamed’ Via Radio Dabanga, she demanded the women to not feel ashamed of being raped, because it is not their fault. The doctor also asked the family of rape victims to deal with the incident easily, report it immediately to the police, and go to hospitals for treatment in the early stages. Dr Ahmed El Tijani, consultant of obstetrics and gynaecology in a hospital in Ireland, confirmed the difficulty of proving a rape incident after more than two weeks, whether the victim is a virgin or circumcised. He said in an interview with Radio Dabanga that the only proof then is the DNA of the rapist inside the woman. In Sudan, a rape must be proved in the first few hours after the incident by conducting a medical examination of the victim. Rape victims have to obtain a document, Form 8, to admit the medical evidence. This form provides only limited medical information. The law requiring that victims obtain this form before receiving medical attention was overturned ten years ago.File photo: Protesters demonstrate during the Global Day for Darfur outside of Downing Street on December 10, 2006 in London, England (Scott Barbour / Getty) Related:  Sudan: ‘Exit Unamid not owing to mass rape investigation’ (21 November 2014) Khartoum escorts reporters to Tabit for inquiring on mass rape (20 November 2014) ‘Time running out for probe into Darfur rapes’: former Unamid spokesman (17 November 2014)