Sudan: 22 Years of Silence, Impunity in Darfur Led to Sudan War’s Worst Atrocities Against Women and Children

Sudan is an African crisis, and what’s happening in Sudan is a manifestation of a very deep crisis that will affect, and is affecting, different countries across the continent. Since the beginning of this conflict and this campaign of atrocity that has been happening across Sudan. We, my colleagues and those in my organization ( Strategic Initiative for Women in the Horn of Africa – SIHA ), have been saying that Sudan is too big to fall apart alone. Sudan is the third-largest country in Africa. Sudan borders, I believe, about six or seven countries. This conflict, its manifestations, and its impact are affecting seven African nations and beyond.

Viral Video of Civilians Being Killed in Sudan

It’s a proxy war. It’s a war that’s using the bodies of women and girls and civilians, and children as a weapon of war and as a war strategy. What’s happening right now in my country is definitely the outcome of years and years of impunity and silence about the atrocities and the violence against women and girls, and civilians that have been happening in Darfur. And of course, most of us remembered or heard about Darfur, but many of us were wondering what had happened in Darfur. And the reality is the atrocities never stopped – the violence, the killing, the sexual violence against women and girls, the forced evictions of civilians. It was ongoing throughout the past 22 years.

Children Died of Thirst Fleeing ZamZam Camp

The only thing that has happened is that the international community stopped speaking about Darfur, and unfortunately, as Africans, we did so (as well). In 2020, something horrific happened. The only monitoring and observatory body, the hybrid African Union/United Nations peacekeeping missions in Darfur, was ceased. My organisation has been working in Darfur since 2005, so we have seen how the conflict has evolved. So we have observed clearly how these situations have aggravated and exacerbated to cover the whole country.

Why Displaced Sudanese are Not Returning to Khartoum

We have observed the flow of arms as feminists and as women’s organizations; we blow the whistle. I briefed the Security Council and I have spoken about the volatility of the security situations and the flow of arms in Sudan, and the fact that Sudan has multiple armies, and then the situation is very tense, but there has been a high level of neglect and undermining of how serious the situation in Sudan is now. The fact that this war is, as I said, using women and children’s bodies as a war strategy and as a weapon of war.

Sudan War is Spreading

It happened before, and there has not been any process of accountability. The perpetrators who were committing these crimes included former President Omar Al Bashir, who was indicted by the ICC, but continued to rule for another 10 years after his indictment and was received by many African nations. The leader of the RSF and other army commanders were directly implicated in war crimes, and other army commanders – none of them were held accountable. Women were at the frontline. Sexual violence and crimes against children started on April 15 in the capital city of Khartoum, and it went on and extended across the country. We are struggling with the prevalence of conflict-related sexual violence, enforced disappearance, sexual slavery, and all kinds of crimes being committed against women and children in a systemic and intentional way. Sudan also has a long history of criminalizing women. I would say that Sudan at the moment, it is the capital of sexual violence.

The momentum of the Sudan uprising was lost because of a recurring cycle of political arrangements and processes that have often been used to suppress Sudanese uprisings or revolutions against dictatorships.

Sudan is based… I always say, we are not in a good neighborhood. There is no interest in a democratic Sudan. So often, our political arrangements post our revolution end up with a hybrid government that brings the perpetrators into power. And typically those who have guns, they have the upper hand and they have the legitimacy of the guns to suppress those who are really hoping for a peaceful transition, for democracy, and peace.

The Sudanese people have resisted and they died for democracy, and Sudanese women have put their bodies on the frontline, but largely this instrumental and systemic violence it’s also about killing all potential and hope for peace, for democracy and equal citizenship, and women’s presence in public spaces. And many of the women who were raped and assaulted, they were told that that this is happening to you because of you being present in public spaces, especially women protesters who were assaulted early on, before the war, because this, as I said earlier, this violence, it didn’t happen all of a sudden. It has been happening. It was enabled by impunity, and it was enabled by turning a blind eye to it.

This piece is edited from April 10 press briefing interactions to bring attention to the Sudan war as it neared its April 15 anniversary. More #KeepEyesonSudan #SudanisBleeding #StandWithSudan