Communications from the Coordinating Counselor of Team Zamzam
Translated by Gaffar Mohammud Saeneen, edited and posted by Eric Reeves
Our project in Zamzam originated in an effort to respond to the acute needs of girls and women who have been the victims of genocidal sexual violence. Such traumatic violence has left tens of thousands as victims of despair, shame, ostracization, and physical pain. The targeting of non-Arab girls and women by the Janjaweed, by the Rapid Support Forces (which incorporated Janjaweed fighters), and by the Sudan Armed Forces has been continuous for more than 20 years. It could not be clearer that rape, the primary form of sexual violence, has been used as a brutal weapon of war.
[For a fuller look at the realities of rape in Darfur, with a detailed spreadsheet, bibliography, and statistical analysis, see my 2016 monograph: The Most Heinous Crime. I conclude that the extant evidence suggests that many tens of thousands of girls and women have been sexually assaulted since 2003.]
The absence of a human rights reporting presence in Darfur, and the severely limited accounts coming from the humanitarian organizations that have continued to work in the region, make the detailed accounts and testimonials coming directly from Zamzam IDP camp particularly important in understanding the racist cruelty and pervasiveness of sexual violence in Darfur (and elsewhere in Sudan). Included in this Compendium are a number of representative reports and testimonials from the past year, as well as earlier accounts.
The counselors of Team Zamzam continue with their extraordinary work in assisting the victims of sexual violence, even as they help to respond to growing famine conditions prevailing in and around Zamzam IDP camp. More than 5,000 girls and women have been the beneficiaries of counseling, either individually or in an all-day group setting. Almost 100 girls and women have received desperately needed surgeries for traumatic fistulas (sadly, there are still more than 200 on the waiting list).
Knowledge of the work of Team Zamzam has lifted the morale of girls and women throughout the vast population of Zamzam.
February 2024
H, A.M., 19 years old. She was subjected to sexual and physical violence in the Wadi Marra reservoir area on Saturday January 11, 2024 while she was on her way to her farm to get some necessary agricultural products. The victim said:
“We were on our way to the farm to bring some supplies for the house; a quarter of an hour after we left the camp, armed men driving a 4×4 military car began to harass us. At first we thought they were joking with us, but after about an hour following us, we realized that they were up to something. After that, we decided to leave our donkeys and run each one of us in a different direction to save herself; but it was too late for two of us.
“They threw me to the ground before they tied my hands and feet. I thought I was going to die but they threw me in their car while I was screaming and hit me in the face and tore my clothes and hit me hard in the head until I lost my consciousness.
“After that, I don’t know what they did to me but when I woke up, my whole body was in pain, blood was pouring from my nose and a sharp pain in my left arm. I tried to regain my energy to return home to the camp, but dizziness overcame me and I fell down where I was, crying until the morning of the next day when people came to take me back to camp. The pain in body has gone but still I’m suffering from a fracture of my left arm. I thank the Sisters from Team Zamzam for coming to help to overcome my stress.”
December 2023
Testimony from a victim of sexual violence—Mecca xxx , 21 years old, from the Tarni area, Dar es Salaam locality in North Darfur. Mecca was subjected to sexual, physical, and verbal violence by Janjaweed militias on December 8, 2023 while she was working on her farm is in the area of Kulqi-Qalab.
Mecca said that while she was on her farm, a group of camel herders deliberately tried to ruin her agricultural crop, and after she refused to allow them, the group called the Rapid Support Forces, who were based nearby. Mecca said:
“Three Rapid Support Forces cars with heavy weapons came immediately and surrounded us from all directions in the farm, and then they fired heavy bullets into the air in order to terrify everyone present with me as well as on a neighbor’s farm. After that, they got out of their cars and came to us with the two of camel herders, pointing their weapons at us and throwing every insulting word at us. They took with them all our personal property, food, and agricultural crops, and told us: “These lands and all of Darfur now belong to the Arab tribes!”
Mecca said: “I tried to resist but they beat me up badly and broke my arm.”
Mecca was subjected to verbal and physical, and sexual violence, along with her cousin Khadija—in front of her mothers’ eyes on their farm by six armed men: the two camel herders and four men belonging to the Rapid Support Forces. She’s now recovering gradually but her cousin Khadija is in shock. Counselors are making every effort to help them to recover from their trauma. For her part, Al-Radiyya Taher, Khadija’s mother, said:
“Every day, more mothers’ hearts are broken because of these brutal and ruthless Janjaweed, and there is no safe place for young girls in the country anymore.”
She thanks counselors of team Zamzam for coming to rescue her daughter.
November 2003
[1] The victim said:
“The Rapid Support Forces stormed my house and started asking me where the money is, which tribe I belong to, where my husband is, whether he was affiliated with the Sudanese army or the armed movements, and many other questions—all the while my children and I were shaking with fear.”
“The four RSF men searched every corner of my house for an hour and they did not find anything. One of them said to me: ‘Get ready—you will pay a heavy price, you vile black woman!’ And he hit me in the face until I fell to the ground and lost consciousness. And then, two of them took turns sexually assaulting me while the third one was insulting my children with degrading words.”
After her ordeal of four hours in her house, she pleaded to them to leave her, but they gave her twenty-four hours to leave her house or otherwise she would suffer the same fate in the morning.
The victim said,
“The RSF men said to me that Nyala had become a city of a noble race of Arabs and there was no place for you, you black Jews.”
After that the victim immediately ran with her young children to seek help from her neighbours who were leaving the city in a rush. Eventually she left with them to reach El Fasher after six days of a difficult trip. Counselors from team Zamzam visited her to provide her with intensive psychological counseling and now she is recovering gradually, but her children are still deeply traumatised by the events.
[2] Testimony from Aziza
Aziza recently moved from Nyala to reach Zamzam camp. Aziza said that she was subjected to sexual, physical and verbal violence on the seventeenth of November while she was leaving her home in a state of panic and terror that has gripped the entire city of Nyala. Aziza said:
“After we spent the night terrified by the sounds of the gunshots, the screaming, and the crying in the Al-Jir neighborhood, early in the morning, I and some of my neighbors decided to leave the city as quickly as possible. While on our way, the RSF men stopped us and asked us where we were going, and we told them that we were looking for food, and indeed some of us were suffering from hunger since everything had run out after a few days.
“After they stopped us, they divided us into tribes and then young girls were put in a group; this is when I felt something sinister was about to happen. I screamed loudly, telling the young girls who were with us to run, but one of the men hit me with the back of his firearm and broke my nose and two upper teeth. I fell to the ground and they started kicking me with their dirty boots until I fainted. We were then moved from the side of the road to a house near Nyala airport where we remained isolated from each other for three days—and we suffered further humiliation, beatings, and sexual assaults.
“The next day, they brought us near the side of the road where they stopped us on the first day, and they fired their rifles in the air and said, ‘Run toward El Fasher, you slaves.’ After suffering and walking for five days, finally a few people rescued us in an area near Kazan-Jadid and brought us to Zamzam camp. Upon our arrival at Zamzam, no humanitarian organization reached us to help except the Sisters from Team Zamzam and volunteers, and thank God they brought us some basic necessities and painkillers.”
October 2023
Among the latest four victims, there is a child who does not exceed the age of eleven years, and one of the victims is Habiba Ibrahim xxx is 21 years old:
At six o’clock in the morning, Habiba left Zamzam camp, where she has lived with her family for several years, accompanying her little sister on their way to the city of El Fasher to work there as a cleaner. They left the camp and. within half a kilometer, a car with Rapid Support Forces license plates approached them on the roadside and offered them free ride to downtown El Fasher, but they refused their offer saying they were not heading to El-Fasher:
Habiba said:
“They immediately left us and headed towards El Fasher, but after about three minutes, we were surprised from behind. Two of them got out of their car and pointed their guns at us and said ‘jump on the car you little dirty black beasts.’ My sister screamed as loud as she could while shivering from fear but there was no one around to help us. Then they drove us for about an hour in the area west of camp. Then they began their sexual assaults: two of them took turns on me while the third one assaulted my sister.”
The two victims were sexually assaulted for nearly three hours before their attackers left them in place in very difficult circumstances. After the assault, the younger girl couldn’t walk because of the intensity of pain and the older sister had to carry her on back for three hours before being helped by passers-by to reach the camp. The two victims have been taken to hospital in El Fasher for treatment and doctor confirmed that they have been sexually assaulted by force. Since the events, the two sisters got into a deep depression and seemed on the verge of self-harm but for a quick intervention by counselors from Team Zamzam; the counselors are helping them to recover gradually.
Another victim, Samira Hassan Yaqoub, is 20 years old and from Zamzam. The location of the incident involving her was west of Zamzam camp. The date of the sexual assault was this month (October 2023), and it has resulted in severe depression.
Testimonial from a recovering fistula patient
[2] Rawida Khalil xxx is 22 years old and currently lives in Zamzam with her family. Ruwaida was diagnosed with fistula in 2021, but she hid her illness for a year, fearing the stigma she would endure. Finally her condition became intolerably painful and disabling. She said:
“I was scared that people would find out what I was suffering from, but finally my friend convinced me to approach the Sisters of team Zamzam to reveal what I was going through.
“After waiting in an agony of pain for some time, I was taken to the hospital for treatment; there the doctor told me that the fistula was in an early stage and could be treated with a light surgical procedure and medicines. Thanks to the Sisters and God, thank God, I was treated within two months and now the pain has completely disappeared.”
Rawida said by way of conclusion: “Thank you Sisters for saving my life, and I wish speedy recovery for those who are still suffering.”
September 2023
Hadiya, 57 years old, from the Kulgai area [southwest of Zamzam] in the village of Al-Tayyara, which is about 5 kilometers away from Kulgai Qalab. She is the mother of eight children, three boys and five girls, and all the boys are younger than the girls. Hadiya lost her husband in the events of Kulgai Qalab, which was attacked by Janjaweed militias on the of March 6, 2022. Hadiya said that her husband left the village on his way to the nearby farm. He was hit by a bullet in the chest and died instantly. Afterwards there was a panic to bring the dead man’s body home; but instead, two other people in her family died from violent injuries.
After that, the Janjaweed took complete control of the village, and they began to round up all the inhabitants and then began to loot all their livestock, sheep, family property, food, mattresses and blankets. After that the whole house was burned, and they started beating and torturing the women and children.
Hadiya said:
“After two days of physical torture, verbal insults, and sexual violence, we managed to escape from them and ran barefoot to Zamzam camp. In the attack, I lost my eye and life has become very difficult for us. My children are young and now I have had three days without food in my house: we have no money to buy food.”
August 2023
[1] A brutal attack took place two days before the displacement. Five victims left Rwanda camp to fetch basic necessities from the market which was about six kilometers from the camp. They were attacked and kidnapped by the Janjaweed militias/Rapid Support Forces in vehicles armed with heavy weapons. After the kidnapping, they were transferred on their vehicles to the Koldi Qalb station; there followed a fierce competition between militiamen in choosing and distributing the five victims between them fairly; this resulted in a quarrel and gun fighting.
One of the victims of this brutal assault said:
“There was a quarrel and fighting within the Janjaweed/RSF; we were tied to a tree until after the quarrel ended. The one of them came to me and he appeared to be the leader of the group and took me with him into the private tent; then he asked me to take off my clothes, but when I refused, he hit me in the face and tore off my clothes with a knife and began to beat me until I fainted. After this, other Janjaweed began to take turns on me. It was hurting too much, but the more I screamed for help the more they beat me and threw humiliating insults on me.”
The victims said that other four girls have suffered the same fate in five different tents.
[2] Another victim of the same incident said:
“The Janjaweed militiaman grabbed me by the hand and took me inside his tent. I was afraid to death and trembling from fear. When I entered I saw there were a few other men sitting and drinking alcohol together and all of them wearing the Rapid Support Forces (RSF) uniform. After that, one of them asked me which tribe I belong to, and I told them that I am from the Tunjur tribe. After that, he laughed sarcastically and said to me, “You are lucky.” He then asked me ‘Why are you lucky…don’t you know?’ and I told him, ‘I don’t know.’
“He replied, ‘If you were from the Fur, the Zaghawa, or from those rotten ones, we would have treated you with anger, revenge and rabid hatred.’ I do not remember their number, but they took turns with me for three consecutive periods before they released me with the others on the outskirts of Zamzam camp in the middle of the night.”
After their ordeals at the hands of Janjaweed, the five victims were visited by the counselors of Team Zamzam, who have provided continuous psychological and moral support. After preliminary recovery, one of the victims said:
“We were raped and yet we thought that it’s our fault and shameful; but now, thanks to the sisters from Zamzam, we have overcome this old negative attitude—because the silence of the victims that causes many other diseases, and we need intensive training courses and advice to avoid any harm to us in the future.”
Thankfully, two of them have fully recovered but the rest are still attending counseling season on regular basis and the Zamzam team will exert all its energies to help them until they fully recover. Because the determination of these girls is what drives team Zamzam counselors with powerful motivation, more energy, a sense of purpose to their mission, and a steadfastness before any challenges.
[3] A statement of Appreciation and thanks mother of fistula patients
Touma Ibrahim Muhammad, 46 years old, mother of four girls and one boy, and the mother of a fistula patient, said:
“For two years and a half years, I could not sleep normally as others do. This was because my daughter suffered a great deal from a fistula resulting from rape. During her illness, every moment of my life I was in complete anxiety—because we did not know what she was suffering from. As a mother, I tried everything possible to find something that would cure her. We thought that she was suffering from insanity or malignant diseases that could not be cured. For over two years, every day she would stay awake until midnight, and cried from pain until the morning.
“But praise be to God and thanks be to God, after a long patience, she was rescued with the help of team Zamzam [i.e., received fistula surgical repair in El Fasher—ER]. I have nothing to offer or repay you—please accept my prayers through my words and heart. I pray to Allah to bless you all here in life and hereafter for your good deeds.”
Three women/girls received fistula reparative surgery in the previous month.
March 2023
This month 22-year-old Awatif Mohamed Arga and 27-year-old Shadia Hassan Ibrahim were accompanied to the hospital for surgical treatment, and both patients are experiencing continuous improvement in their physical and psychological conditions.
Awatif, before she felt the effects of her traumatic urinary fistula, had a life that was full of joys, optimism, vitality; she loved her life, loved people, and she aspired to become a nurse. But two years ago, when her fistula was diagnosed, her life changed completely. She lost more than fifty percent of her body weight, lost her hair, and psychological depression forced her to isolate herself from all contact with people. This remained the case until she was rescued by the sisters of Team Zamzam. She said:
“The fistula not only prevented me from continuing my studies, but forced me into to become an exile in a world of depression. Deeply negative thoughts and feelings kept me hostage for a very long time, but now I thank God for giving me a second chance.”
As for Shadia, life was not that easy for her either: her condition and suffering may have been worse than Awatif’s, but she resisted with will, perseverance and determination as long as possible. But eventually, she said:
“The fistula had destroyed and broken my life into small pieces—and only those who suffer from such pain and harm can understand. Indeed, the worst of it all wasn’t the pain itself but the bullying from the closest of relatives of ex-husband, and the stigma has forced me to feel ashamed and guilty for something that I didn’t have any control over.”
Shadia continued:
“We were about to get married, and at the time everything looked fine; but I felt severe pain and went to the doctor for a consultation and check-up; it was at that time that I learned I had a traumatic fistula.” She continued: “My husband was in love with me, and I am sure he still loves me; but his family forced us to divorce, and this is what shattered my spirit and broke my heart for a year and a half.”
Awatif concluded by saying:
“I now feel grateful and happy, and this is all thanks to the sisters of Team Zamzam, who supported me throughout difficult times and provided me with everything from health guidance, moral uplift, to valuable counseling.”
February 2023
On February 20, 2023, at exactly seven o’clock in the morning, Nadia Abdullah went out with three of her cousins two kilometers west of Zamzam camp to gather straw for their livestock.
When the girls reached their destination, four armed Janjaweed men on camels appeared and began to ask the girls questions such as, “where do you come from? why are you here? which tribes do you belong to?” The girls became frightened, and Nadia replied that they were from Zamzam camp. After this, one of the militiamen pulled out his weapon and demanded that the girls lie down. One of the assault victims said that the attackers demanded they throw their phones on the ground; but when they refused, they were beaten until they lost consciousness.
“Why did you leave your dirty camp that is full of harmful black beasts? You are worth nothing to us Arabs except as pleasurable objects!” These words terrified the girls even more as they endured the following humiliation. Nadia said:
“I screamed and begged them to stop, but they continued to beat us very violently. They put a weapon to my head and told me ‘to shut up or we will finish you.’ The Janjaweed then said that no one should move from her place, and then asked all of us to take off our clothes.” Another of the victims said: “After that each one of them seized one of us and then carried out their heinous crimes [i.e., rape—ER] while one of them stood guard with a weapon on top of a camel.”
During all this, however, Nadia resisted and managed to escape her ordeal. But the attackers chased her, and when they realised they couldn’t catch her, they fired at her, wounding her in the arm and stomach.
As for the other three victims, they continued to be insulted and humiliated by the aggressors for several hours until people who heard screaming while they were passing by an area close to the scene of the assaults. They told the people of the camp that they heard the girls’ screams and gunfire. After that, people from the victims’ families rushed to the scene and found them in terrible psychological condition, their clothes torn, and their bodies covered with beatings and scratches.
The victims were taken to the hospital first, and then procedures began with the police to make a formal complaint. And after that, some of the victims’ families followed the trail of the aggressors until they reached the Qilaab area, and there they found one of the perpetrators, but they could do nothing.
December 2022
[1] Rouwida Muktar, 23 years old:
“After a long, agonising wait—after almost two and a half years in pain—the end of last year I was happy to start my new life. My new life is free of pain, free of depression, free of long irritating nights, free of worries, more friends and plenty of happiness. Two weeks after the surgery, I felt as if I was given new life in paradise and from that moment onwards everything has changed for the better for me. Fistula had almost destroyed my entire life, but thank God but for me it’s over now and I only pray for those who haven’t had the chance to go through surgery. I wish them speedy recovery and I thank all those who helped me to get through this.”
[2] Testimonial from Mahasin:
“My name is Mahasin, and I am 16 years old. Two years ago, I was beaten severely with my mother while we were working on our farm; afterwards, the men did very bad things to us [the most common euphemism for sexual assault in this culturally conservative society—ER].
“My family took me home in a cart because I couldn’t walk for a very long period because I’m suffering from pain. All this time I have not been able to go out of the house because I was afraid of all the men and overcrowded places. Until recently I didn’t want to go outdoors to talk with other people because of what everyone thinks and talks about us. But after seeing sisters from Team Zamzam, who treated me like their own sister, I feel much better. I’m very happy for their support and for listening to me. I thank you for this nice gift.”
December 2021
Testimonial of fistula surgery patient
“My name is Kalida Soubor Ahmed; I am 25 years old. For me last month was the end of the long pain that kept me in the house like a prisoner; the pain had deprived me of enjoyment normal life and stopped me from doing beautiful things. The pain was so severe that I often lost consciousness and had fever. During the last three years, I have always been living between regret, frustration, and despair, and I thought my life would end like this.
“But in the end hope came back into my life and today I feel more confident than ever. Before I received fistula surgery, I was working in the market and had experience in trading women’s clothes and artifacts. Now I am hoping to return to work immediately.
“Nothing is easy here in Darfur, but my confidence is very high. I can’t find words or terms to thank my Sisters from Team Zamzam for reviving hopes; but I will remain true to their friendship forever.”
