Sudan: Survivors of North Darfur siege recount stories of rape and torture

Stories of torture, rape, and the disappearance of family members. These are the scenes recounted by displaced civilians in Sudan’s North Darfur, as the paramilitary Rapid Support Forces (RSF) tighten their siege on the provincial capital El-Fasher. 

"We gave them money but the Rapid Support Forces took some women away who couldn't pay into a room. We don't know if they were beaten or raped," Zahra, a 20-year-old mother now sheltering in a former girls’ school, told British broadcaster Sky News.

“We couldn't sleep from the sounds of men being whipped and robbed nearby. All my brothers are trapped there. There is no one to take care of me,” she said, breaking down in tears.

Stories involving gender-based violence are common among siege survivors.

"They raped my two younger daughters in front of me," said Hawa, another mother. "They fled from shame and humiliation. I haven't seen them since." 

The United Nations has denounced the widespread use of sexual violence as a weapon of terror against women and girls - and increasingly men and boys - across the country.  

"In Sudan today, sexual violence is pervasive. It is used to humiliate, dominate, disperse, forcibly relocate, and terrify an entire population," UNICEF executive director Catherine Russell said in March.

The UN's children agency said 12 million people were at risk of sexual violence in Sudan.

Aid workers are also overwhelmed. Dr. Afaf Ishaq is a camp director and an emergency response volunteer who fled Khartoum at the start of the war.

"I'm living in a state of emotional torture and have depression from the number of cases I have to deal with, to the point where I had a mental breakdown," she said. 

"I direct my blame towards the international community. How can they talk about human rights? Where is the humanity?" she added.

Reports found that nine million people in Darfur are in urgent need of humanitarian assistance. In the area’s last functioning hospitals, doctors struggle to treat the wounded. 

"We need support, yes. Either we need medication, either you can give money to the victims, patients, but anyhow, we need support," said Dr. Usman Adam.

Observers say the paramilitary group of General Hemedti has stepped up its attacks against El-Fasher in recent weeks, in an attempt ot to take control of the last major Darfur city still in the hands of the Sudanese army.

The UN said about 260,000 people remain trapped in El-Fasher, half of them children, after more than 16 months of siege by the RSF.