Exchanging Rapists: the Rape of Sudanese Women in Chadian Refugee Camps: Who Should Be Held Responsible Under International Law

• Citation: Vol. 12 No. 2
• Publication year: 2009

Gonzaga Journal of International Law Volume 12 - Issue 2 (2008 - 2009)

Exchanging Rapists: The Rape of Sudanese Women in Chadian Refugee Camps: Who should be Held Responsible under International Law?

Debra Lefing(fn*)

I. Introduction

I went with a group of women searching for firewood at the border, but I was alone when I was attacked. A man from Chad, not a solider, caught me, beat me, and raped me. Afterwards I became sick, with fever and dizziness. My arms and legs and belly swelled up and I was yellow. I went to the clinic, but I could only get paracetamol and fluid. When my husband came back some months later and found that I was pregnant, he left me. Now I have two babies from this, but not enough milk or food. I am very sad.(fn1)

This story is one account of a Sudanese refugee woman in Chad. There are currently 200,000 Sudanese refugees located in twelve Chadian refugee camps.(fn2) With many of the men in Sudan "killed, imprisoned, or off to war, women in the Darfur region constitute large majorities of the population in refugee camps and in those villages that remain."(fn3) In fact, many of these women choose to flee to Chad to escape the sexual violence they have experienced in Sudan.(fn4)

Rape has frequently been used as an element of government and Janjaweed attacks on the civilian populations in Sudan.(fn5) It has been used as a "deliberate strategy with a view to achieve certain objectives, including terrorizing the population, ensuring control over the movement of the IDP population and perpetuating its displacement."(fn6) In the Darfur region alone, the U.S. State Department found that twenty percent of refugees interviewed had witnessed a rape during the attacks.(fn7)

There is documentation of "multiple perpetrators [committing rape against] large numbers of women and girls . . . by Sudanese government forces and militias."(fn8) The United Nations High Commissioner for Human Rights (UNHCR) concluded that "rape and gang rape continue to be perpetrated by armed elements in Darfur, some of whom are members of law enforcement agencies and the armed forces, and the Government appears either unable or unwilling to hold them accountable."(fn9) The Commission also noted that Sudanese police officials often refuse to register and investigate allegations of sexual violence made by women.(fn10)

The women and girls fleeing this sexual torment are not safe once they have left. Rather, when they arrive in refugee camps outside Sudan in Chad, they are faced with this same violence.(fn11) They are exchanging one rapist, the Janjaweed or other military or state rapists, for another in Chad. Women and girls in these refugee camps are being raped by Chadian armed forces and militia, Sudanese armed forces and militia, and other refugees.(fn12) This must be stopped. How much violence must this group continue to suffer before the international community steps in and says enough? This paper sets forth the legal basis for the international community to respond to these rapes as a means to strengthen the effort of the international community in this endeavor. It is my hope that in writing this, the message to the world to help will be louder and stronger.

More specifically, Part II examines the sexual violence in these refugee camps. Part III sets forth how to hold Sudanese and Chadian armed forces and militia responsible for these rapes under international law. Part V examines the culpability of rapes by other refugees under international law. Finally, Part VI suggests who should be held responsible for these rapes to prevent future rapes from occurring not only in the refugee camps in Chad, but in all refugee camps around the world.

II. The Rapes in Chadian Refugee Camps

Cases of rape and violence against women in refugee camps are well documented and are nothing new.(fn13) Refugee women are vulnerable in refugee camps.(fn14) "Local residents, military and immigration officers, and police often view refugee women as easy targets for assault."(fn15) Refugee women are often the targets for sexual abuse by fellow refugees.(fn16) This is because "the frustration of camp life can lead to increased domestic violence including sexual abuse within the family."(fn17)

The conditions of dependency in the camps make women vulnerable to sexual violence or assault.(fn18) "Refugees, particularly women, are likely to be dependent on others for food or assistance."(fn19) Thus, there is a demand for "sexual access in exchange for such assistance."(fn20) When "there is no opportunity for work in the camp, or where camp administrative systems do not ensure that women receive their rations, the difficulty of meeting basic subsistence needs often leads women or girls to prostitute themselves in exchange for food, shelter, and protection."(fn21)

Also, "[r]efugee women and girls may also be vulnerable to sexual violence because of the design and layout of the camp."(fn22) Several areas of the camps "provide opportunities for rapists to strike."(fn23) Many females go into the forests for privacy because the male and female bathrooms are in the same areas.(fn24) In addition, the passageways to the bathrooms are not well lit.(fn25)

However, rapes in refugee camps in Chad are not well recorded.(fn26) This is not surprising considering the shame attached to being raped and the lack of support services for survivors.(fn27) Rapes of Sudanese women occur while they are collecting water, fuel, or grass near the Sudan-Chadian border.(fn28) Women collect firewood customarily in Sudanese cultures and in refugee camps, they also collect firewood because men judge that women are less at risk of being killed by armed groups outside the camps.(fn29) In fact, UNHCR relocated thousands of refugees from the border to camps further inside Chad in 2004 because of this violence.(fn30) UNHCR also hired a community services assistant in its camps to report rapes, domestic violence cases, and to "deal with the perpetrators."(fn31)

Besides being raped by the border, some Sudanese "women and girls may also be coerced by male residents of the camp and others, such as Chadian [police], to provide `sexual services' in exchange for their `protection.'"(fn32) "These women and girls may also be seen as `easily accessible' by men" in the camp itself.(fn33) One twenty-six year old refugee women said, "It is not safe inside the camp. I have no husband. Many men have forced me to be their wife."(fn34)

Additionally, women and girls living alone in refugee camps risk sexual assaults because they have no protection. One such example is a sixteen year old girl who was "raped by three men" as she was gathering firewood near the town where she was seeking refuge with her family.(fn35) After she was raped, "her family . . . threw her out of her home and her fiance broke off their engagement because she was `disgraced.'"(fn36) "Forced to live alone, she was subjected to further violence, including rape, at the hands of the local police who came to her dwelling at night."(fn37)

Unregistered refugee women and girls are also susceptible to this. Human Rights Watch found that about 18,000 unregistered refugees who live in the dry river beds or along the roads to the camps are women and children.(fn38) These refugees do not have even the minimal security that the refugees in camps have.(fn39) They are literally out in the open, without even having a tent for cover and thus are open targets for rapists.(fn40)

Sudanese women and girls are being assaulted and raped by members of Sudanese and Chadian militias and armed groups and other refugees.(fn41) In all cases, "according to victims, local contacts, and humanitarian agencies, [these rapes] occur with complete impunity-no one has been caught or punished."(fn42) In fact while there is information disseminated on the rapes, there is no information set forth about holding anyone responsible for them. Rather, there is only information on preventing rapes and providing services to rape victims.(fn43) This paper is not trying to dismiss the importance of this support. It does, however, seek to present another method to combat rapes which is ignored. The next two sections focus on how to hold the individual rapists responsible under international law.

III. Rapes by Chadenese and Sudanese Government Soldiers and Armed Groups

A. International Humanitarian Law

Humanitarian law historically has governed the wartime relationship of belligerent states and protected persons, which included enemy persons and neutrals, but not a state's own nationals. For protections under humanitarian law to apply, an armed conflict must exist and the person claiming protection must be in a membership in a designated group.(fn44) "The group may be either one of combatants . . . or one of protected persons."(fn45)

If refugees are in a state involved in an armed conflict, they receive special protection under the Fourth Geneva Convention and under the First Protocol if the conflict is international in scope. This recognizes the vulnerability of refugees in the hands of a party to a conflict and the absence of protection by their state of nationality."(fn46) Refugees would thus be a protected class of civilians. Additionally, only nationals in another state of involved in the conflict are protected by the Convention if they are nationals of a state party to it.(fn47)

For a conflict to be termed an "international armed conflict," it has to be...