Five Women Beaten and Raped Near Refugee Camp

March 11, 2006

Damanga Coalition for Freedom and Democracy has received disturbing news that five women were attacked and raped outside their refugee camp on March 2. The attackers also beat their victims about the head, causing serious injuries.

According to Damanga Coalition’s sources, government forces and Janjaweed caught the women in the area of Arafa, one of the villages destroyed since 2003. This area is about 8 miles east of Jenana and only 4 miles from the government-controlled area of Al Damata. The women had ventured out of the camp in order to find straw for their animals, gather firewood, and sell wares at the market. Many women in the refugee camps have no other sources of income and must make such trips in order to earn money to feed their families.

The government continues to enforce a curfew in Darfur, preventing the populace from walking about freely after sunset. Only the army, the security forces, and the Janjaweed have freedom of movement after dark. If they find anyone else outdoors at night, even those who are merely visiting neighbors, they beat or kill them as a matter of routine. Last week, government forces reportedly shot a 19-year old student as he was seen walking home from a neighbor’s house. They stopped the young man and ordered him to surrender his cell phone. When he refused, they shot him.

Such attacks are standard occurrences in Jenana and the surrounding area, all the way to the Chadian border. The area is the most dangerous in Darfur, as most government and Janjaweed forces, as well as Chadian rebels, are concentrated there. It is from that base that they move about Darfur and along the border with Chad.

Damanga has learned that the refugees within the border area between Sudan and Chad are encountering the greatest suffering. They lack sufficient food and clean water, and they live under constant threat of attacks from the government and Janjaweed. Even the humanitarian aid workers are afraid to visit the area because of the constant danger.