Study Finds Evidence Of Adults, Children Being Kidnapped Into Slavery In Sudan's Darfur

December 17, 2008 8:08 a.m. EST

Khartoum, Darfur (AHN) - There is evidence that people are being kidnapped into slavery in Sudan's Darfur region, a study by a coalition of 50 charities says.

Darfur Consortium says that eyewitnesses have reported that not only are men, women and children being used as slaves, but that the Sudanese army has been involved in kidnapping women and children to serve as sex slaves and domestic servants for army troops, a charge that the government has denied.

In some cases, kidnapped men and boys are forced to work as farm laborers on land that is controlled by the Janjaweed militias, the report says.

The study, which relied on 100 eyewitness accounts from former adductees, contained other surprises as well.

According to the study, Arabic-speaking Janjaweed and the Sudanese Armed Forces conducted joint attacks on villages, tortured and killed the people there and then repopulated those villages with people from other places, including nomads from other countries.

Some 2.7 million people have fled their homes since the violence started in Darfur in 2003 and up to 300,000 people have died.

The report urges the government to disband militias, including the Janjaweed, to cooperate with the United Nations and the African Union, and to stop the abductions of civilians, free those who have been enslaved and prosecute those responsible.