Sudan 10th May
A shameful and appalling video showed at least four men forcefully gang raping a woman surfaced on social media on Wednesday 5 May 2021. The video reveals the perpetrators of this heinous crime, one of whom was in a uniform and another wearing military boots. The observed location and language spoken confirm that this video was taken in Sudan. This is a clear indication that the perpetrators are affiliated to the Sudanese military groups. It is also observed that the perpetrators carried knives and sticks during the attack. The video is clearly meant to shame and humiliate the survivor, whose condition remains unknown. SIHA believes that the video posted briefly on social media is an extension of a campaign of terror that has been launched against women by a number of militant Islamist groups on social media, calling for women to be assaulted and raped.
The Demand-based Group, a coalition of 55 civil society groups concerned with claiming fundamental rights, issued a statement condemning this crime of gang rape and called for immediate investigation.
SIHA Network has continuously and repeatedly warned against the normalization of sexual violence crimes, which are becoming rampant in Sudan due to the culture of impunity and discriminatory laws that have created an enabling environment that fosters and legitimizes violence against women and girls.
Despite the fact that over 60% of the protestors who contributed to the overthrow of Sudan’s Bashir regime were women, Sudan’s transitional government continues to turn a blind eye to the continued prevalence of sexual and gender-based violence crimes across the country.
On April 27th, 2021 Sudan’s cabinet announced that they approved the ratification of the Convention on the Elimination of all Forms of Discrimination against Women (CEDAW), and The Protocol to the African Charter on Human and Peoples’ Rights on the Rights of Women in Africa, imposing reservations on article 2 (CEDAW Anti-discrimination code) and article 16. The reservations on article 2 and 16 clearly contradict the constitutional document of the transitional period of August 2019, which states that there should not be gender-based discrimination. As we congratulate the women’s movements across Sudan on their hard work and commitment, we are also observing that the situation of women’s rights across the country remains drastically and increasingly dangerous for women’s safety.
The level of prosecution of sexual violence crimes in Sudan is known to be insignificant particularly for survivors aged 14 and above due to the inadequate and discriminatory Criminal Act of 1991 and Sudan Evidence Act of 1994, both of which, hinder survivors’ access to justice by demanding them to provide 4 witnesses to prove rape or otherwise face prosecution for confessing adultery, leaving the door wide open for SGBV survivors to be criminalized. For the past 17 years and since 2003, rape has been used as a weapon of war in Darfur, where thousands of women and girls have been subjected to sexual violence. To date Sudan’s transitional government has not taken any steps to address this rampant violence, which is now expanding beyond Darfur. In addition, to date there has not been any serious investigation into the mass rape committed by the Sudanese security forces at the 3rd of June massacre during the sit-in dismantlement, despite the distressing experience the survivors went through to provide statements for the investigation committee.
SIHA demands that the Sudanese Transitional Government, Sudanese Ministry of Justice, the Ministry of Interior, and the Office of the General Prosecutor of Sudan:
Immediately investigate this heinous gang rape crime and arrest the perpetrators;
Halt the patterns of impunity for perpetrators of sexual violence that has been inherited from the Bashir era, especially for the crimes committed by militarized forces which are quite common;
Introduce and implement fundamental reforms to the Sudan Criminal Act 1991 and the Sudan Evidence Act 1994, ensuring that there is no legal basis for the criminalization of survivors of rape and other forms of sexual violence;
Support and empower survivors of sexual violence to seek justice and medical and psychosocial support through legal reforms and removal of any structural barriers.
