Rape as a weapon

Darfur, Sudan

Pro-government Arab militias are systematically raping black women and girls in Sudan as part of their campaign of ethnic cleansing, Amnesty International charged this week. The group’s report said that the rapes were not the actions of undisciplined troops, but rather a calculated tactic to drive blacks out of the Darfur region. Hundreds of women told Amnesty of being gang raped by the militias, known as the Janjaweed, night after night. “My husband could not forgive me after this,” one woman told researchers. “He disowned me.” The victims said Arab women singers often traveled to black villages with the Janjaweed, performing racist songs encouraging rape and killing.