(Photo Credit: PR Photos)
Rihanna is using her platform to bring awareness to the “barbaric” crisis happening in Sudan, where children are being raped and murdered in a violent crackdown on civilian protesters in the capital, the U.N. said.
The chaos erupted after the former president of Sudan was removed from his position. Since then, demonstrators have called for a democratic government. The Sudanese military has responded by killing and raping peaceful protesters.
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RiRi took to social media on Tuesday to address the issue and encourage her millions of followers to help spread the word, as there is an Internet blackout in the country.
“They’re shooting people’s houses, raping women, burning bodies, throwing them in the Nile like vermin, tormenting people, urinating on them, making them drink sewage water, terrorizing the streets, and stopping Muslims from going to eid prayer. There is an Internet blackout! Please share. Raise awareness,” the singer posted.
Unicef’s executive director Henrietta Fore said in a statement she was “gravely concerned” at the impact of the ongoing violence on the Sudanese children, the UK Independent reports.
“We have received information that children are being detained, recruited to join the fighting and sexually abused,” Fore said.
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“Schools, hospitals and health centres have been targeted, looted and destroyed. Health workers have been attacked simply for doing their job.”
Opposition activists have also told The Independent that government paramilitaries, the Rapid Support Forces (RSF), are hiding bodies of protesters dumped in the Nile and raping “dozens” of female doctors.
“Children throughout Sudan are already bearing the brunt of decades of conflict, chronic underdevelopment and poor governance. The current violence is making a critical situation even worse.”
At least 188 have been killed since June 3, many of whom were shot or fatally beaten by members of the RSF militia.
Amnesty International secretary general Kumi Naidoo has described the violence as “horrific and barbaric.”
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“The senseless killing of protesters must be stopped immediately, and those responsible for the bloodbath, including at command level, must be held fully accountable for their dreadful actions.”
In a statement on Twitter, British ambassador in Sudan, Irfan Siddiq, said a political agreement was needed to put an end to the violence.
“If there weren’t strong enough arguments for ending the violence in Sudan, the killing of 19 children in the last nine days should make all those responsible for the ongoing violence think long and hard about their actions.”
https://twitter.com/alllthingssam/status/1138481033307983872
