During protests in Sudan, the United Nations Human Rights Office received 13 complaints of rape and gang rape by police forces, while opposition medics claimed a second person dead.
Hundreds of thousands of people gathered in Khartoum’s capital on Sunday to oppose a military coup on October 25 and a November 21 agreement to reinstate Prime Minister Abdalla Hamdok.
Demonstrators gathered at the presidential palace for a sit-in attempt before dispersing after dark.
At a press conference on Tuesday, UN Human Rights Office spokeswoman Liz Throssell said the office had received 13 complaints of rape and gang rape, as well as reports of sexual harassment by security forces against women attempting to flee. She remained tight-lipped about the alleged rapes or group rapes.
“We urge 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,” said Throssel.
Suleima Ishaq, the head of the Ministry of Social Development’s Combating Violence Against Women unit, told the AFP news agency that two women demonstrators were raped during Sunday’s rally, although she did not name the offenders.
UN has received 13 rape and gang rape allegations during a protest in Sudan. “One woman filed a report with the authorities while the other woman refused to take legal steps,” Ishaq said.
The Central Committee of Sudanese Doctors reported in a statement that one person was shot in the head by security forces in Omdurman, across the Nile from Khartoum, the second person to die as a result of Sunday’s crackdown, increasing the total death toll from anti-military rallies since October to 47.
More than 300 individuals were hurt in numerous locations during the protest, according to the committee, with some of the injuries caused by live bullets and tear gas canisters.
“The appearance of rape [during protests] demonstrates the increase in the type of crimes committed against revolutionaries,” the Darfur Bar Association stated in a statement. “It is the duty of everybody to join a campaign to pursue the culprits and those behind them.”
The army will preserve national security, according to a media adviser to military leader Abdel Fattah al-Burhan, and would support the people’s democratic aspirations.
Hamdok, who has remained silent on Sunday’s events, has stated that he signed the pact to cease the carnage and continue economic progress.
