Darfur in the News - Rape as a Weapon of War

I was watching the Today show this morning and was delightfully surprised to see they are addressing the crisis in Darfur. They had an expert on this morning discussing one of the tactics being used in the war, the use of gang rape as a weapon.

Two hundred Senate and House staffers held their breath as Suad Mansour, a native of Darfur now working for the group Darfur Peace and Development, shared the story of eight women who were raped and abducted by members of a government-backed Janjaweed militia while collecting firewood one night. The militiamen told the women, who included a 9-year-old girl, that they were to be their wives. The women were found in the militia’s compound two days later by African Union peacekeepers and taken to a hospital where the young girl later died. When their families tried to speak out, they were threatened into silence by the government.

Stories like this are all too common in Darfur, where rape is the signature crime of the genocide. The UN has said that rape is used as a “systematic weapon of war.” Attacks are not isolated crimes of opportunity but part of a deliberate campaign to destroy the social fabric of the entire community. Women face rape not only during Janjaweed attacks on their homes, but even after they reach the relative safety of the displaced-persons camps. In the camps, where women make up 80% of the inhabitants, they face rape every time they venture out in search of water or firewood.

...Rape is used as a weapon in Darfur to destroy the mental, emotional, and physical well-being of not only women but also their families and friends. Dr. Reeves noted that the UN Genocide Convention “specifies, among other genocidal acts: ‘Causing serious bodily or mental harm to members of the group,’ and, ‘Imposing measures intended to prevent births within the group.’” He stated that the “systematic” and “racialized” nature of sexual violence by the militias “compel[s] the conclusion that sexual violence against women is genocidal in nature.”

Haroun noted that “[t]he abuse of women in Darfur has continued to reach the highest levels. Rapes are so violent some women are left physically destroyed or even die. Women are attacked on a daily basis. They are attacked when they are alone or in groups. The hospitals are full of rape victims that are in unbelievable shape and many now have sexual transmitted diseases. And they are considered lucky because they didn’t die.”

The assault on women occurs within an atmosphere of complete impunity for their assailants. A report by Médecins sans Frontières (MSF) indicates that 81% of rapes perpetrated by the Janjaweed militias occur with government military personnel present. (Rather than address the systematic violence described in the report, the Sudanese government simply arrested the MSF workers who released it.) Nor can victims expect justice after the fact; women who report that they have been raped often face not only ostracism but also reprisal by the authorities. - Genocide Intervention Network

The Today show sent Ann Curry to Chad to bring coverage of the genocide in the Darfur region of Sudan and the violence spilling into neighboring Chad. If you have a moment, take a look at her photo journals.

If you are not aware of what is happening in Darfur, the report offers a basic explination of the atrocities.

posted by Sarai @ 10:58 AM