4 Sudanese women narrated to Al Jazeera stories of being raped by RSF elements (Al Jazeera)

Hammered faces in shame, choked throats, false eyes, tears flowing, and successive breaths. These are some of the things that describe the situation of these women as they recount, timidly and bitterly, stories of their rape and the usurpation of their honor.

All these Sudanese women, who are refugees in Chad with their families, insist that the perpetrator is members of the Rapid Support Forces (RSF), which are fighting the Sudanese army. They unanimously demanded that the militia and its leaders be brought to justice.

Their accounts of rape are supported by press statements obtained from Médecins Sans Frontières (MSF) that the phenomenon is common, as well as testimonies from midwives and eyewitnesses.

Yasmine M.E., 26, told Human Rights Watch that she was gang-raped on November <> by two members of the Rapid Support Brigade's Ashaws Division following the fall of the army command in Ardata, north of El Geneina, the capital of West Darfur state.

Awada M. reviews testimony of sexual violence (Al Jazeera)

She adds that officers chased her in the street even inside her home, where "the incident took place." "They asked me if I had money, and where I didn't, I said no. There they epileptic me and two of them violently raped me, which led to a rupture of the organ resulting in bloodshed and severe knee pain due to the force of the epilepsy."

She points out that two days after the incident, she received some painkillers and medicines from a hospital for "Médecins Sans Frontières" in El Geneina, before fleeing to Chad and cutting off the news of her husband and two of her brothers who were working in the collapsed army division. I don't know if they're alive or dead."

In a fit of crying and pain, Awada M., a 38-year-old middle school teacher, recounted the story of her rape in early June in front of her older brother by Janjaweed (Rapid Support) elements. After reviewing testimony from Médecins Sans Frontières (MSF) that she had been subjected to sexual violence, she said: "One of them grabbed my leg, the other with my hand, the third stripped me naked and assaulted me." She adds that those who held her hands and legs were wearing quick support clothes, while the third was in a regular "jalabiya".

Awada reports that her husband's trace disappeared permanently in early November after the fall of the army camp in northern El Geneina, although he is a civilian, while her brother Khamis is still detained by the Rapid Support, and her mother insists on staying in El Geneina pending his release.

One of the rapists recounts with pain what she was subjected to (Al-Jazeera)

Throttling and hitting with rifle butts

She says that two of her brothers are still suffering from strangulation and violent beatings with rifle butts, and that the incident caused her numbness in one leg as well as severe back pain.

The hard choice

The student at the University of Bahri (P.M.K.) fell between two bitter choices: killing her mother in front of her or accepting the empowerment of criminals herself.

"They didn't give me much time to change my mind about this option, as they forced me at gunpoint to take them to an empty house near where we were gathering with families, and there the assault took place," says the 22-year-old girl. "I was in pain, I cried and I screamed."

Wafa (pseudonym) seems more fortunate, as she was helped by the pretense of death and survived the rape. "I was with my sisters outside the house in the Tadamon neighborhood on April 24 this year. I went into the house to take things, and there I found RSF elements to apparently rob the house."

The 17-year-old added, "They gave me a choice between murder and rape, so I preferred death, one of them stabbed me with a knife on my breast, another kicked me on the flank and I fell, pretending to die, they hit me with rifle butts, and I heard someone say she is dead. They stole everything and fled." "I prejudiced myself until I reached the nearest stick, leaned on it and walked."

Alejandra García Naranco: Last week we received 7 to 10 cases of sexual violence, mostly rape (Al Jazeera)

These accounts corroborate the testimony of midwife Hawa Adam Hassan Abu Bakr, 88, a former obstetrician at El Geneina Hospital, who says that the women's parents brought their daughters to her for examination, and that she witnessed 20 women and girls who had been raped.

Theo Mbakamman, director of health activities at MSF hospital in Adré, says his institution receives two to five cases of rape a day. Alejandra Garcia Naranco, MSF's medical officer, says that in the last week the foundation has received 5 to 7 cases of "sexual violence", most of them rape.

As for what they can offer rapists – along with psychological support and topical treatments – Mbakamen says they can largely prevent HIV transmission 72 hours after the incident. Beyond that, only infections can be treated.

The issue of rape and its accounts, and who was the victim and who survived it, caused widespread controversy among Sudanese refugees in the Adri camp in Chad, and violent quarrels broke out between the women's families over the "sayings" against them, according to employees of international organizations and a Chadian administrative official who declined to be named.

Source : Al Jazeera