UN: Sudanese women subjected to rape and violence

WORLD, June 19 (YPA) – Volker Türk, the United Nations High Commissioner for Human Rights, said on Monday, his office has received reports of sexual violence against at least 53 women and girls in the Sudan conflict, saying that some 18-20 women were raped in a single attack.

“I am appalled by allegations of sexual violence, including rape,” Volker Turk told the Human Rights Council. The Rapid Support Forces had been identified as the perpetrator in “almost all cases”, he said.

“We still see a reckless, senseless conflict taking place in a context of total impunity,” he said.

For his part,  The UN Secretary-General,António Guterres expressed his deep concern about the situation in the Darfur region, western Sudan, and the acts of violence, which he said were taking on an “increasing ethnic dimension.”

The statement expressed grave concern about “the increasing ethnic dimension of the violence, as well as reports of sexual violence.”

Guterres renewed his call to  the Sudanese Armed Forces and the Rapid Support Forces to “stop the fighting and commit to a permanent cessation of hostilities.”

At the same time, the Secretary-General affirmed the “commitment of the United Nations to support the Sudanese people.”

E.M