Amnesty International: Sudan Children Face War Crimes, Sexual Violence

Children in North Darfur have been recruited by the Rapid Support Forces (RSF), subjected to sexual violence and left facing the effects of starvation and years without education, according to Amnesty International researcher Janine Morna. Children in Sudan are not only being caught up in the violence of war but are also being deliberately targeted, according to researcher Janine Morna of international human rights advocacy organisation Amnesty International. Janine Morna is an Amnesty International human-rights researcher specialising in children affected by armed conflict. Her current role is Thematics Researcher – Children, within Amnesty International’s Crisis Response Programme. She has researched conflicts in Niger, north-east Syria, Ukraine, Haiti, and Sudan. In an exclusive interview at Radio Dabanga studios in Amsterdam (scroll down for full transcript), Morna describes to Radio Dabanga’s English Editor, Andrew Bergman how the Rapid Support Forces (RSF) have recruited boys in North Darfur to fight, herd livestock used by the force, and gather intelligence about opposing forces. She says the investigation found that recruitment happened in different ways. Groups allied with the RSF sometimes worked with community leaders and others to mobilise young people, including older boys and, in some cases, younger children, to fight alongside the force. In other cases, young men and older boys were abducted during attacks on villages and forced or compelled to fight. Children are caught up in the killing, bombardment and displacement, and suffer the same violations as adults, but they are also deliberately targeted for a range of other violations Morna says one RSF leader whose unit numbered about 90 told researchers that around 40 per cent of its members were young people. Girls have faced a different pattern of abuse, she says, with rape and other forms of sexual violence documented in the investigation. When young women were rounded up, there was not necessarily any consideration of whether they were under 18. The youngest case describes by Morna involved a 13-year-old girl who was abducted and gang-raped repeatedly over several days. “Children are caught up in the killing, bombardment and displacement, and suffer the same violations as adults,” she says. “But they are also deliberately targeted for a range of other violations.” Starvation and the impact on young children The investigation, which included interviews with 39 children, also examined the effects of the siege of El Fasher, the capital of North Darfur, where children struggled to find enough food. Morna says children and babies were particularly vulnerable because they could not survive prolonged food shortages in the same way as adults. Researchers documented cases in which children were not eating regularly and found that four children had died because food was unavailable. She says the actual number was believed to be much higher. The researchers also heard of babies who could not breastfeed and were surviving on mixtures of water and sugar. Amnesty spoke to two malnutrition health experts to understand the consequences of going for a prolonged period without adequate nutrition. Morna says children who survive for months eating animal feed can still suffer devastating long-term effects. Malnutrition can affect children’s health, growth, and development, including those under five and older children. Its consequences can extend into the next generation. If girls experience stunted growth, for example, their ability to carry children may be compromised Malnutrition can affect children’s health, growth, and development, including those under five and older children. Its consequences can extend into the next generation, she says. If girls experience stunted growth, for example, their ability to carry children may be compromised. Morna says the impact on children could be missed if an investigation relied only on adult survivors, satellite imagery, or video footage