SW News: Sudan’s Rapid Security Forces have been using rape systematically to terrorize communities they control, said a group of independent human rights experts on Thursday.

Four months ago, the Rapid Support Forces and Sudan's military leadership began a lengthy struggle for control of the country that has already resulted in thousands of deaths and millions of forcible displacements, according to a group of more than 30 rights experts.

The forced migration of about 700,000 migrants and asylum seekers across Sudan's numerous borders into surrounding nations has destabilized the whole region.

The RSF is accused of employing rape and other sexual assaults against women and girls as a means of terrorizing and punishing communities. According to the experts, several of the recorded rapes seem to have racial or ethnic motivations.

The experts expressed specific concern at consistent reports of widespread violations by the RSF. Hundreds of women have been arrested by militia members, held in inhuman or degrading conditions, subjected to sexual assault, and are vulnerable to sexual slavery, the experts warned.

Experts said some of the reported rapes appear to be ethnically and racially motivated. Sudanese women and girls in urban centers as well as in Darfur have been particularly vulnerable to violence. Rape is used as a tool to punish and terrorize communities.

Militia members have hundreds of women arrested in inhuman or degrading conditions subjected to sexual assault and vulnerable to sexual slavery. The ability to support victims of violence has been severely constrained due to the fighting, which has made it difficult to reach all the affected areas. Additionally, there is proof that local women human rights activists have been purposefully targeted.

The experts pointed out that despite the RSF's stated zero-tolerance stance for sexual and gender-based violence; the organization has frequently been blamed for the commission of other crimes as well.