MOSCOW, October 15 (RIA Novosti) - Human Rights Watch (HRW) has called on Sudanese authorities to probe into abuses, including sexual, reported to have been carried out on female Darfuri students during raids by the country's government's forces, the statement posted on the organization's website Wednesday said.
"Sudanese authorities should put an end to these violent and repressive tactics, which violate both Sudanese and international law. They should immediately investigate all reported abuses against the students and hold those responsible to account," the statement said.
The organization stated that approximately 70 female students were evicted on October 5 and 6 from the Zahra dormitory in Khartoum by Sudanese government security forces.
The forces abused the female students both verbally and physically before taking them to the country's National Security and Intelligence Service (NISS) offices in order to identify their political affiliations and sending them later to the Omdurman prison for women, according to the statement.
Some of the students HRW talked to said that the security forces groped and taunted them as well as threatened to commit sexual assault.
"Sudanese security forces apparently think they can intimidate Darfuri students by beating them up and throwing them out of their dorms. There is no justification for treating students that way," the organization's Africa Director Daniel Bekele said in the statement.
According to HRW, the incident happened amid growing tensions between Darfuri students and university administrators. It also stated that the security forces of Sudan had time and again quelled university students opposing governmental policies.
