North Darfur
Sudanese troop stading guard near villagers in Tabit, in the North Darfur, on November 20, 2014. According to reports, Sudanese troops entered the village of Tabit on October 31 after a soldier went missing and raped 200 girls and women, which Khartoum has denied. Getty Images

Over 36 hours in October 2014, at least 221 women and girls were reportedly raped by Sudanese armed forces in the north Darfur town of Tabit, according to a Human Rights Watch report.

The 48-page report titled 'Mass Rape in Darfur: Sudanese Army Attacks Against Civilians in Tabit, reveals the mass rapes could be considered crimes against humanity, if found to be a systematic attack on the civilians.

The deliberate attack on Tabit and the mass rape of the town's women and girls is a new low in the catalog of atrocities in Darfur. Sudan has done everything possible to cover up the horrific crimes committed by its soldiers in Tabit, but the survivors have fearlessly chosen to speak out.
- Daniel Bekele, Africa Director, Human Rights Watch

"The deliberate attack on Tabit and the mass rape of the town's women and girls is a new low in the catalog of atrocities in Darfur," said Daniel Bekele, Africa director at Human Rights Watch. (HRW)

"The Sudanese government should stop the denials and immediately give peacekeepers and international investigators access to Tabit."

The news first did rounds when a Netherlands-based station, Radio Dabanga, reported on the mass rapes last November.

In response, Sudan initially denied access to UN peacekeepers, but later gave them brief access in November, still preventing the investigators from carrying out a credible investigation, said HRW.

Two army defectors separately told HRW that they were ordered by superior officers to "rape women."

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Speaking of the traumatic sexual abuse, a woman in her 40's told the HRW: "Immediately after they entered the room they said: 'You killed our man. We are going to show you true hell.' Then they started beating us. They raped my three daughters and me. Some of them were holding the girl down while another one was raping her. They did it one by one."

Victims were reportedly threatened by government officials with prison or death if they leaked any information.

One man who was questioned at a military intelligence prison told the HRW: "They said if I talked about Tabit again that I was going to be finished ....They kicked me. Tied me and hanged me up. They beat me with whips and electric wires."

Another man, a Tabit resident said people have been, "living in an open prison" since the attacks as the Sudanese government fears tortured residents might speak out.

"Sudan has done everything possible to cover up the horrific crimes committed by its soldiers in Tabit, but the survivors have fearlessly chosen to speak out," said Bekele.

"The UN Security Council and the AU should demand that Sudan stop these attacks, urgently act to protect Tabit's residents, and conduct a credible investigation."