Report: Girls as young as 8 raped, used as sex slaves in Sudan

Published: 2004-07-19

LONDON (CNS) -- Amnesty International has accused the Sudanese army and Arab militias of using rape as a deliberate weapon against black Sudanese girls as young as 8. In a report released July 19, "Rape as a Weapon of War," Amnesty International said the rapes "are war crimes and crimes against humanity, but the international community is doing very little to stop it." The report said, "Girls as young as 8 are being raped in Darfur, Sudan, and used as sex slaves." The organization said, "Women and girls are being attacked, not only to dehumanize the women themselves but also to humiliate, punish, control, inflict fear and displace women and to persecute the community to which they belong." Based on hundreds of accounts, the report reveals how women and girls are being raped, abducted and forced into sexual slavery by the Janjaweed, a government-backed militia drawn from tribes of Arab origin. In nearly all attacks on villages examined by Amnesty International, the government's army was either directly involved or witnessed the atrocities.

Copyright (c) 2004 Catholic News Service /U.S. Conference of Catholic Bishops. The CNS news report may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or otherwise distributed, including but not limited to such means as framing or any other digital copying or distribution method, in whole or in part without the prior written authority of Catholic News Service .