UN reports 13 rape allegations during protests in Sudan

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The United Nations Human Rights Office said on Tuesday it received 13 allegations of rape and gang rape by security forces during protests in Sudan on Sunday, while opposition medics reported the death of a second person. Sunday’s demonstration drew hundreds of thousands of people to the capital Khartoum to protest a military coup on October 25 and an agreement signed on November 21 to reinstate Prime Minister Abdalla Hamdok.

Protesters converged on the presidential palace, where they attempted a sit-in before being dispersed after sunset. Sudanese security officials contacted by Reuters did not immediately respond to a request for comment.

United Nations Human Rights Office spokeswoman Liz Throssell said in a briefing that the office had received 13 allegations of rape and gang rape as well as reports of sexual harassment against women by security forces as they tried to flee. She did not give details of the alleged rapes or gang rapes. “We call for a prompt, independent and thorough investigation into the allegations of rape and sexual harassment as well as the allegations of death and injury of protesters as a result of the unnecessary or disproportionate use of force, in particular the use of live ammunition, ”Throssell said.

One person was shot in the head by security forces in Omdurman, across the Nile from Khartoum, the Sudanese Central Medical Committee said in a statement, the second person to die following crackdown on Sunday, bringing the total death toll among anti-military protests since October to 47. The committee previously said more than 300 people were injured in several towns during the protest, some from live ammunition and tear gas canisters.

The Darfur Bar Association, a human rights group, said in a statement “the emergence of rape [during protests] indicates the evolution of the type of crimes committed against revolutionaries, so it is everyone’s duty to join a campaign to prosecute the perpetrators and those behind them. national security and sided with the democratic aspirations of the people.

Hamdok, who did not comment on Sunday’s events, said he signed the agreement in order to end the bloodshed and maintain the economic gains.

(This story was not edited by Devdiscourse staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)

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