Women human rights defenders bearing the brunt in Sudan

Since war erupted between the Sudanese Armed Forces SAF and the Rapid Support Forces RSF more than 16 months ago, women human rights defenders in Sudan are bearing the brunt. The El Alag Centre for Press Services, member of the Sudan Media Campaign, spoke with several women lawyers who fled their home or shelter in El Gezira.

Since the outbreak of war between the Sudanese army and the RSF in Khartoum on April 15 last year, and the rapid spread of the fighting to Darfur, Kordofan, and central Sudan, more than 10 million people, most of them women and children, fled their homes in search of safe havens inside and outside Sudan to escape the killings and rapes.

At the forefront of these women were human rights defenders and other legal activists, the El Alag Centre wrote last week*.

“They bear the burden for two reasons: they are women, and they are defenders of the rights of others, especially women’s rights,” El Alag states. “They were monitoring the increasing number of women rights violations, including gender-based violence, and supporting victims who were raped, forced into marriage and labour in the areas seized by the RSF.”

But also in the so-called safe areas, controlled by the SAF, human rights defenders are not safe. Both warring parties accuse them of being “mercenaries”, suspecting them of “spying for the enemy”.

El Gezira, south of Khartoum, was occupied by the RSF in December last year, except for El Managil in the northwest of the state. As part of an evaluation study in the El Alag Centre spoke with four women lawyers from El Gezira and one who fled Khartoum about their personal experiences. As most of them are still in Sudan, they are referred to by their initials, for security reasons.

“When the RSF were beleaguering El Gezira state and agents of the General Intelligence Service (GIS) and Military Intelligence increased their persecution and detention of human rights activists and their relatives, my family and I also received threats that forced us to leave. I thus lost my source of livelihood as a lawyer,” S.M. reported.

H.R. confirms her report: “Being in areas of ongoing clashes with no protection for lawyers and journalists, both men and women, the possibility of facing accusations by one party of spying for the other party, confiscation of telephones by security agents of the belligerents, the lack of security when using social media and being exposed to the hacks, all of this made me live with severe tension and constant fear for myself and my siblings, which prompted me to flee.”

Another human rights defender with the initials S.M. told El Alag that “After we used to extend a helping hand to the many people who fled Khartoum state, we ourselves became displaced following the attack on Wad Madani [the capital of El Gezira].

“My family and I fled the city, carrying only a few clothes with us. We found refuge in the home of our relatives in countryside nearby. We lived there with 41 people in one house for four days, when gunmen entered the area. They stormed the houses, fired at us, and robbed us of our belongings.

“We then moved to another safe area, walking, as there was no transportation available at all. The roads were crowded with people fleeing the violence. We thought that we reached a safe place, but we were attacked by gunmen again, and fled to El Managil, a journey that took 12 hours on foot.”

Sh.N. fled Sudan. “I feel depressed as I was forced to leave the house in El Gezira due to the violence. Because my sick mother needs medical care, we left the country – something I would never think I would do. Despite the difficulties of living in Sudan throughout the past years, we refused any opportunity to leave Sudan in order to serve our country and our people. Frankly, these questions and the feeling that there is a party that cares about our situation brought back the spirit of work to me again.”

For L.S. her and her family’s movement became restricted after the RSF occupied the area. “Even leaving the house became impossible because we were threatened. Three armed men stormed the house. They pointed their weapons at my nephew’s head, and they stole everything we owned. We able to hide our phones. They also tried to take my niece with them, fortunately they did not succeed,” she said.

“So far, we did not report about what we were exposed to until we’ll find a way to get out of this place. It is also very difficult to communicate with the people and human rights groups we used to work with.”

Kh. A. fled twice, first from Khartoum, and the second time from Wad Madani where she and her relatives had taken refuge. “The experience in El Gezira was more severe. We were preparing to have tea in the morning when we heard the sound of cannons and bullets. This caused great fear among the displaced people in the shelter complex in the city, which included about 7,000 families in three large dormitories. So, you can imagine the stampede to get out of the complex.

“We all crossed the Hantoub bridge on foot, including the children, the elderly, the sick and the disabled, in search of transportation towards Sennar or Singa. I lost my mother for a while. We kept sleeping and waking up to the sounds of war. Stray bullets were hitting the people.

“It was worse than what we witnessed in Khartoum. Bullets were flying around in front of the shelter, and one missed my daughter just one inch. Whenever I remember the scene, I feel indescribable psychological exhaustion and I cannot sleep,” she lamented.

#StandWithSudan

* This report was produced as part of the #StandWithSudan campaign launched by the Sudan Media Forum in April this year, to draw attention to the humanitarian disaster, avert famine, and halt violence against civilians in Sudan. It has been published in Arabic and/or English by the media institutions and organisations participating in the campaign.