Sudan: middle ranking officer in army rape girl under 16 years old in the Tor local, Nertiti, Central Darfur, Zalingi:

On April 22, 2020, A Sudanese army officer allegedly gun raped a 16 years old girl in the Tor local area, Nertiti, Central Darfur Zalingi State.

Nazar Mohammed Adam is the suspected person. He is 32 years. He is a part of the 16 brigade of the Sudanese army based in Kass locality in South Darfur Nyala.

The facts:

The victim (A.M.A) 16 years old. According to eyewitness the incident approximately occurred at 5 pm. She was sent to the local market to buy some food in her way back home she saw a person wearing a military uniform following her. He tried to call her she didn’t stop until she reached her family home, but none was around in the house. He followed her inside the house and threatened her with a pistol and raped her took place over one hour on time  . Some neighbors heard the noise and cries then they ran and found her already raped.

The neighbors said that they went to inform the army commander. They also confirmed that they reported the incident to the police in Nertiti. They filed the case under the number «189» and the Sudanese criminal code.

The victim was transferred to the Nertiti Hospital for further treatment. The army arrested the alleged perpetrator handed him over to the police in Nertiti central Darfur, Zalingi.

Given the stigma that the rape victims suffer, some women and girls don’t come up to tell their stories. The rape and gender-based violence very pervasive in Darfur and perpetrators continue to act without any deterrence.

Therefore, Darfur Network for monitoring and documentation calls upon the Transitional Sovereignty Council and Government of central Darfur State to intervene and put an end to these grave human rights violations.

We also need to call on UN special rapporteur on violence against women to provide more protection for these powerless people.