RSF Arab Dominated Forces and Sexual Slavery of Africans in Sudan
Noriko Watanabe and Kanako Mita
Modern Tokyo Times
The United Nations (UN) has accused the Rapid Support Forces (RSF) and their allies of committing atrocities against non-Arab populations in Darfur and South Kordofan. In Darfur, the non-Arab Masalit community—along with other African ethnic groups—has been particularly targeted. Meanwhile, in South Kordofan, the African Nuba people have faced similar persecution.
Belkis Wille (Human Rights Watch) says, “Survivors described being gang raped in front of their families or over prolonged periods of time, including while being held as sex slaves by RSF fighters.”
Wille continued, “This research highlights what we have been hearing for some time now about the magnitude of sexual violence in Sudan, with the RSF coming into homes and raping women and girls time and again.”
Other ethnic groups have also suffered at the hands of the RSF amid the ongoing conflict with the Sudanese Armed Forces. Darfur, which gained international attention for the brutal Arab Muslim-led massacres of Black African groups such as the Fur, Masalit, and Zaghawa between 2003 and 2005, is once again engulfed in violence. Since the eruption of the most recent conflict, ethnic massacres have resumed, primarily targeting Black African communities in both Darfur and South Kordofan.
The BBC reports, “Allegations of war crimes have persisted throughout the past two years, and in January 2025 the US determined that the RSF and allied militias had committed a genocide against the region’s non-Arab population.”
Lee Jay Walker, an analyst at the Modern Tokyo Times, states: “Slavery officially ended in the land of Mecca (modern-day Saudi Arabia) in the 1960s, following international pressure. However, much like how ISIS enslaved the Yazidis in Iraq, Arab Muslims in Sudan have also enslaved the Dinka and other African ethnic groups in more recent times. This indicates that the practice of Arab Muslim slavery has not been entirely eradicated and continues in certain parts of the Arab Muslim-dominated world—often accompanied by deep-rooted animosity toward Black African communities, as seen in the ongoing persecution in Darfur and South Kordofan.”
AP News reports, “Sudan plunged into civil war in April 2023 after simmering tensions between the army and its rival paramilitary RSF escalated to fighting in the capital Khartoum and spread across the country.”
Catherine Russell (the Executive Director of UNICEF – actively involved in highlighting the crisis in Sudan) said, “Children as young as one being raped by armed men should shock anyone to their core and compel immediate action… Millions of children in Sudan are at risk of rape and other forms of sexual violence, which is being used as a tactic of war. This is an abhorrent violation of international law and could constitute a war crime. It must stop.”
Drone attacks and assaults on aid convoys further underscore the dire humanitarian crisis unfolding in Sudan.
The people of Sudan desperately need a reprieve from the relentless cycle of war and chaos. Yet, despite repeated calls for a cessation of violence, peace remains elusive.
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