‘Militia and herders’ beat Darfuri women for farming land

A group of ten displaced women have been beaten and whipped by “armed pro-government militiamen” as they tended their farms near to Kassab camp in Kutum, North Darfur. Witnesses told Radio Dabanga this week that the women were forcibly lashed. The militiamen then reportedly threatened to kill the women “because they keep farming and are no longer afraid of being whipped”. A woman activist from camp Abu Suruj in Sirba locality, West Darfur, told Radio Dabanga that the systematic beating of displaced farmers by “herders and pro-government militias” is contributing to the food crisis in the camps. She confirmed that the whipping continues, and appealed to pastoralists and farmers “to avoid the frictions that occur during the planting season”. File photoRelated: Seven women, including three schoolgirls gang-raped in West Darfur (21 June)

A group of ten displaced women have been beaten and whipped by “armed pro-government militiamen” as they tended their farms near to Kassab camp in Kutum, North Darfur.

Witnesses told Radio Dabanga this week that the women were forcibly lashed. The militiamen then reportedly threatened to kill the women “because they keep farming and are no longer afraid of being whipped”.

A woman activist from camp Abu Suruj in Sirba locality, West Darfur, told Radio Dabanga that the systematic beating of displaced farmers by “herders and pro-government militias” is contributing to the food crisis in the camps. She confirmed that the whipping continues, and appealed to pastoralists and farmers “to avoid the frictions that occur during the planting season”.

File photo

Related: Seven women, including three schoolgirls gang-raped in West Darfur (21 June)