Sudan has suffered insecurity for 18 months since the overthrow of the government by soldiers and paramilitary forces.
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A factional war has broken out and, in recent weeks, RSF paramilitary forces have made their second major advance into Western Darfur state, killing more than 700 people over several days north of the regional capital, El Geneina.
Journalist Nima Elbagir and her team traveled to neighboring Chad a few months ago for CNN’s documentary segment “The Whole Story.”
There he met men and women who described the atrocities they suffered, which for some amounted to genocide.
Thousands of people fled to Chad.
People interviewed by CNN described scenes of inhuman horror, including systematic rape and even slavery, carried out by paramilitary forces to control Darfur.
Disturbing images
The images, especially those posted on social media, are disturbing.
We see paramilitary forces, RSF soldiers, rounding up men, grouping them together, beating them and humiliating them.
“Come here [mot en n] Let’s go. Rocíelos”.
CNN was able to geotag the videos, locating them in a remote area of El Geneina, the capital of Western Darfur, where some of the worst atrocities in the recent war took place.
photo-source position-absolute" itemprop="copyrightHolder"> Screenshot | cnn
Over the past year, paramilitary forces have attacked members of African tribal groups, including the Masalit, who consider Darfur their ancestral homeland.
Paramilitary forces usually belong to tribes of Arab origin.
The video shows men, living and dead, being buried in mass graves. We also see a man, who may have become a slave, throwing dirt at another even though he is still alive.
In another refugee camp, a CNN journalist meets women who describe the horrors of the rapes they were subjected to.
Shocking testimonies
Many testified on camera.
One of the men said: “We have lost more than forty men in our family.
A woman talks about the violence she experienced.
“They told my father: ‘We will rape your daughter in front of you. The Rapid Support Forces said: “Leave these people.” We will find the best ones for sale. “Those, let’s mess with them,” says another survivor.
Sold
CNN interviewed more than a dozen survivors and eyewitnesses as civilians were attacked and women sold into slave homes.
photo-source position-absolute" itemprop="copyrightHolder"> Screenshot | cnn
«Outside there were soldiers from the Rapid Support Forces. They beat me until they took me to the building. Inside I saw nine or ten girls, some of them without clothes. They told us they would sell to us for a very cheap price. They said they would be the only ones who would sleep with us, because if we had children… “Our children will take revenge one day.”
A young woman managed to escape, but was detained again and taken to another place where she was raped several times.
male slaves
Mehdi, who was only 16 years old, was kidnapped by RSF along with his brother and forced to work on a farm.
«We were eight. We were all stuck together. They came and said, ‘I want strong boys.’ Someone came and started feeling my arms. “They tied me up and blindfolded me.”
“I did not see anything. Then I heard them say: ‘I’ll buy it for you and give you the money.'”
“They hit me and said the ‘N-word’.” They said: Where do we find that (the n-word)? They kept hitting me.
Mahdi doesn’t know how much they were bought for, but they eventually moved him to another place where he was forced to work.
His brother, who was also kidnapped, was murdered.
***Watch the full report in the video above. ***
2023-11-22 08:21:16
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