Darfur Network for Human Rights is deeply concerned about the violence perpetrated by families against women and girls in the Darfur region. We are demanding community awareness to stop this violence; there were three human rights violations. We must end this violence against women as soon as possible.

On March 15, 2023, at 10:00 am, in the locality of Brindisi, in Central Darfur, a woman’s body was inside a creek, buried in the sand, and one of her legs was outside. Her name was Zainab Mohammed Nour, 28 years old, with two children, ages 3 and 6. She lives in the Soni neighborhood in the Bindisi locality.

Details about the incidents, Zainab Mohammed Nour (victim) had problems with her family. Before that, she became pregnant twice illegally ( two children, ages 3 and 6.). Later the family found out that she was four months illegally pregnant again, and Her Father expelled her from the house for two weeks. After that, some family members and neighbors intervened, spoke to her parents, and convinced them to bring her back home. The Father agreed, and the girl was returned to the home.

However, On March 13, 2023, at midnight, the girl was sleeping, and her Father entered her room, broke her neck, and killed her on the spot. After killing her, he took the body and moved in the western direction from the Bindisi locality, about 1 km away, and buried the body in the stream near the Bindisi cemetery under the sand; two days after her killing, a man from the same area of Bindisi, who was passing by the stream found a murdered woman hidden in the sand; he called another man to be his witness before reporting to police. While talking, two boys riding a donkey cart came to the stream to fetch sand where the woman was buried; The two boys riding a donkey cart were sent by the father who murdered the girl to bring sand from the western stream direction of the locality. The two men told the boys not to walk to the stream because a woman was killed there. Immediately, the two boys returned home and told their mother that when they went to fetch sand, they met two men who told them a woman was killed at the stream where the sand was. Quickly the mother ran to the place where the murdered girl was buried. On checking the body, she noticed that it was her daughter, who had been missing for two days.

Later, the first two men who found the murdered woman reported to the police, and the police came to the murder location and took preliminary steps to draw up an immediate report. The body was then transferred to criminal legislation, and the police discovered that the woman had a broken neck as the cause of her killing, and the police arrested the family. After that, the Father admitted that he was the killer. The father said that her daughter Zainab Mohammed Nour was pregnant twice illegally, and she repeated the third time again, so he killed her. This is according to the words of eyewitnesses at the police station.

Another incident occurred on Sunday, March 12, 2023, at 5:30 pm, in the Beleil locality / Al-Salam camp for the IDPs /south Darfur state. The victim’s testimony / Fatima Yahya Mohammed Ibrahim, 38 years old – current residence: Al-Salam Camp / 6 Center, her Tribe Qamaraway married and mother of a child/ displaced from Umm Slala area – Al-Salam locality – in the year 2006, she said that she was sexually assaulted by someone armed with a knife; The victim asserted that: “The assailant was wearing a civilian uniform (socialist clothing) near the Rapid Support Forces camp in Sukali area (Hillat Tabladiyah Musa) south of the city of Nyala, 2 km away on the main road linking to the checkpoint of the Rapid Support Forces and the Al-Salam camp for the Displaced/his locality in night state. Southern Darfur”.

According to the victim’s statement, after an interview conducted by the Darfur Network for Human Rights, she said she left her house in the morning for her farm work., for the livelihood of her young child in a camp. While returning from the farm to her residence in Al-Salam camp, she was assaulted by someone wearing a civilian uniform (socialist clothing) near the Rapid Support Forces camp in the Sukali area (Hillat Tabladiyah Musa) south of the city of Nyala. According to the victim, he slashed her with a knife and forcefully sexually assaulted her

On February 22, 2023, in Al-Neem Camp for IDPs Centre C, East Darfur State, a teenage girl aged 16 attempted suicide after her family members discovered she was illegally pregnant (pregnant but not married). The details of the incident, narrated by an eyewitness and DNHR monitor, indicate that Yusura Babikir Ali Adam, 16, of the Al-Zaghawa tribe, was found pregnant by her mother. As a result, her mother “Hasania Sidiq” contacted her Father, “Babikar Ali Adam,” who was traveling to Al-Shamilia for work at the gold mine. An angry father demanded to know who the child’s Father was on the phone. The girl’s life was threatened by the way he spoke to her.

On a fateful day, the young brother discovered the victim hanging from the ceiling; the brother alerted the mom screaming at me; the family then rushed with the victim to Al-Deen Teaching Hospital; upon medical tests, it was discovered that she suffered from internal bleeding to her head.

In February 2023, her family burned a young girl at Al-Neam camp IDPs in East Darfur. She urged the Darfur Network for Human Rights to share her story so the world would act. This would put an end to violence against other women and girls.

In a similar incident that occurred on February 17, 2023, at around 8 pm, in Al-Neem Camp, Centre A, in East Darfur State, a teenage girl by the name of Nasreen Abdullah Abdul Al-Rasool on a fateful day went to visit her neighbors; however, during the visit, she was informed that her Father needed her attendance at the house. Upon the teenager reaching her home, she was attacked by her Father by the name of Abdullah Abdul Al-Rasool, aged 45 years.

In the details of the incident, as narrated by Residents of the Camp, the Father was not happy that the daughter went to the neighbors and was taking much time to return; upon the Father demanding her return home, she immediately responded by returning home only for the Father to pour hot water on her, burning multiple burns to her body. The residents responded by alerting the Network for Protecting Women and Children, a civil society organization responsible for protecting children and women that are faced with cases of violence and torture; the CSO alerted the police, to which the Father was arrested, and the female child was rushed to Al-Deen Hospital, accompanied by her mother “Mariam Morjan Abdullah” aged 35 years, according to the Medical report; the victim suffered from burns to her face, hands, and private parts.

The final incident occurred on February 23, 2023, at around 11:15 am, in Al-Neem Camp Centre B. A female child named “Mahasin Adam Abdullah,” aged 17 was assaulted by her cousin for refusing to marry, yet she is currently pregnant.

According to the incident details, the victim was discovered to be with a child, and the person responsible is named “Bashir Mohamed Ibrahim.” The victim’s cousin, Al-Ridah Adam Kampal, who is 45 years old, arranged a marriage between the child and Bashir; the victim rejected him because he was neither loving nor responsible, and he used her due to the difficult financial conditions in the Camp, which resulted in her being attacked and slapped.  At the same time as the victim’s mother contacted the CSO, the perpetrator returned to her home with two police officers and a vehicle in an attempt to kidnap her. Fortunately, the police were able to rescue her.

Despite the signing of the peace agreement between the government and the armed groups in the Darfur region, it is noted that violence against women is still a worrying issue in Darfur. Many women and girls live in a context of insecurity. This is due to high poverty levels and increased conflict and violence in all parts of Darfur—the continued absence of accountability for crimes committed against women and girls.

The Darfur Network for Human Rights reported more than 50 cases of sexual violence against women in 2022.

On Friday, 4th November 2022, the IDP, Hawa Adam Mohamed, aged 35 years, a resident of Central 8, Nirtiti Camp, was violently attacked by a trespasser on her Farm. This occurred at approximately 2 pm. The victim is a peasant farmer and a mother of 5 young children. Monitors interviewed the victim, who claimed the incident occurred while she was inside her farm; an assailant approached approximately 50 cattle. When she interrupted the intruder’s trespass, he severely beat her and threw her onto the ground. “The assailant approached me, and he kept on screaming at me if you want compensation, we shall give you while beating me” she describes the assailant as wearing the traditional wear of the Arab Tribes; she further narrated that she was assisted by one “Jido Mohamed Hamdo” an officer of the Rapid Support Forces and an officer of the “Committee for Protection of the Harvesting Season in Darfur.”

The Victim sustained injuries to her Head and Head and Kidney area; she also complained of leg pain since she was thrown on the ground. As a result, the Committee apprehended the perpetrator, named Bushara Mohamed, who is approximately 43 years old. She reported the matter to the Police and was given forms for medical treatment. The victim’s only source of income is farming, and her injuries have incapacitated her from her daily activities; the farm is a source of income she finds on her young children.

In a separate related incident, on 30th October 2022, a group of 8 women IDPs resident of Central 7, Nitiridi Camp for IDPs, were subjected to Severe Beatings and attempted Rape by two individuals described by the Victims to be wearing Military Uniform while on their way back from collecting materials for making brooms.

The names of the women who were attacked are 1- Fatna Amer Abdal Karim, 27 years old 2- Messi Zakaria Muhammad Yahya, seven aged 3- Samia Muhammad Abdul-Jabbar, 35 years old 4- Fatima Mahmoud, 37 years old 5-Maryam Siddiq, 50 years old 6- Zainab Moussa is 40 7- Noura Siddiq Abdul Karim, 28 years old 8- Zacharias Klonjok, 38 years old. Darfur Network for Human Rights DNHR interviewed two victims, who had the opportunity to narrate their ordeal. In an interview with Fatima Mahmoud, aged 37 years, resident of Central 7, Nitiridi Camp, she describes that at around 7 pm, on their way back, they were intercepted by a group of two individuals wearing Military Uniforms. “We were told to stop; we are planning to kill all of you; today is your last day on earth,” she said. The victim described the assailants as wearing military uniforms, speaking Arabic, and looking like Arabs.

“We were told to lie down on the ground, and we were severally beaten; I was hit on my head and knees, and we were tormented greatly before we were left to escape” she further described that one of them managed to escape “Fatima Mahmoud,” the child Messi Zakaria was returned two days after the attack.

The Victim mainly works in collecting and selling firewood to earn a minimal income; she lives in dire poverty; she describes being worried about the only pair of shoes that she left behind following the attack; she feels threatened to continue her ordinary course of living that might earn her minimal income, which hardly sustains her children’s needs who are totally six in number. The Victim told Darfur Network for Human Rights DNHR that she does not own beds or bedding at home. She prays for a donkey to aid her movement, to enable her to earn money for her children, and for a better security situation. This will not leave her vulnerable to such attacks. She has also narrated that she reported the matter to the Police, but the Police did not release any medical form, and the victims remain unapprehended.

Darfur Network for Human Rights DNHR interviewed a second victim of the attack, Samia Mohammed Abdul Al-Jabir, 25 years of age, a mother of five children, and an IDP resident of Central 7, Nitiridi Camp for IDPs. She narrated that on 30th October 2022, they were returning from collecting materials for brooms. The two assailants apprehended them. She described that she managed to escape the attack since her position was at the edge of the line where they were lying on the ground. She ran and rushed to the Al-Zeeber Army Camp.

She further narrated that her husband was killed in 2018 at Lagi by Arab Militias of the “Irigat” Tribe at Nitirid Locality, from inside his Farm, in an attempt to take over his Farm and proceeded to cut down the trees on the Farm. Following the death of her husband, it has not been easy to be a single mother; she Lays Bricks for a living; she Lays a maximum of 1000 bricks, a task expected to be completed in 5 days to earn 3000/SDG, less than 6 dollars. In addition, she demands government protection for better living conditions for herself and her children.

Darfur Network for Human Rights continues to call upon ; 

We continue our work to stand with women and girls and demand the end of Violence Against Women in Darfur.

• Sudan’s government to implement measures to protect women from violence based on killing and torture by family or community. This includes amending domestic law to ensure that acts of violence against women are clearly defined, where necessary. Due to these laws, women have access to effective remedies and appropriate investigations and prosecutions.
• UN and international assemble authorize their mandate to protect civilians and prevent ethnic violence to ensure a successful transition to democracy in Sudan.
• Partners to ensure establishing records for atrocities committed in the Darfur region and Sudan, documentation, and further investigation for the prerequisite steps to transition.

For more information, contact Mohammed Hassan, Executive Director, DNHR, at email: [email protected] and on Tel: (+256)752792112 (+249)924638036.