SUDAN (BP) — War crimes are evidenced among harrowing human rights violations including gender-based violence in the Sudan war, an independent United Nations Fact-Finding Mission found, while the war has forced as many as 165 churches to close.

More than 250 women from the African diaspora — ranging from leaders of religious orders to human rights advocates, attorneys, professors and housewives — signed an open letter Sept. 25 to express solidarity with the women and girls “who are being targeted in a relentless campaign of conflict-related sexual violence and to appeal for the urgent initiation of international protection measures and accountability mechanisms.”

Distressing reports have emerged of rape, gang rape and forced “marriages,” with many of these violations occurring in people’s homes, the letter stated.

In addition to the UN fact-finding mission, the letter is backed by a Sept. 27 report from UN Women that showed more than 6.7 million women, girls, boys and men were already in need of gender-based violence services in the first eight months of the war, more than double the 3.1 million before the conflict started.

Regarding Sudan’s minority Christian community, International Christian Concern (ICC) cited the number of 165 church closures Sept. 19, referencing other reports as its sources.

“Some churches are used as bases for military operations in the war, with people sheltering there forced out or even killed to make way for soldiers,” ICC said Sept. 19 in a press release. “Members of the clergy have been targeted, with soldiers shooting or stabbing priests and others during their raids.”

The Sudanese Armed Forces often bomb churches, ICC said, “indiscriminately injuring or killing those sheltering inside, including women and children.”

UN fact-finding researchers found “patterns of large-scale violations” attributable to both the SAF and the Rapid Support Forces, including airstrikes and shelling against civilians, schools, hospitals, communication networks and vital water and electricity supplies. Both sides targeted civilians through rape and other forms of sexual violence, arbitrary arrest and detention, torture and other ill-treatment, investigators said in the report.

“Given the failure of the warring parties to spare civilians, it is imperative that an independent and impartial force with a mandate to safeguard civilians be deployed without delay,” said mission chair Mohamed Chande Othman. “The protection of the civilian population is paramount, and all parties must comply with their obligations under international law and immediately and unconditionally cease all attacks on the civilian population.”

The report did not mention churches in particular. Christians comprise about 5% of the population that is mostly Muslim.

“The people of the Sudan have suffered unimaginable tragedy,” said mission member Joy Ngozi Ezeilo. “A sustainable ceasefire must be prioritized to halt the fighting in which the civilian population is caught and enable the effective delivery of badly needed humanitarian assistance to all those in need, regardless of their location.”

Expert member Mona Rishmawi said the findings should serve as a wake-up call to the international community “to take decisive action to support survivors, their families and affected communities, and hold perpetrators accountable.”

When U.S. President Biden issued his most recent call for an end to the war, both sides responded positively, but blamed the other for the war’s continuation, according to ICC.

“In reality, both sides of the conflict have been responsible for immense human suffering and have acted in ways that directly kill, harm, and displace civilians. Afraid of losing leverage or battlefield advantage, both sides have also blocked humanitarian assistance from reaching those in need,” ICC said Sept. 19. “Speaking to this issue, the White House called on both parties to ‘immediately allow unhindered humanitarian access to all areas of Sudan’ and reverse their decisions to ‘delay and disrupt life saving humanitarian operations.’”

The war has displaced nearly 10 million civilians and killed tens of thousands.

U.S. Special Envoy for Sudan Tom Perriello traveled to Nairobi and Addis Ababa Sept. 29, he said in a press release, to continue diplomatic efforts to end the conflict and engage with Sudanese refugees and civilian leaders on restoring the path to an inclusive democratic future.

“The United States stands with the Sudanese people and their aspirations for peace, freedom, and justice,” he said in a press statement. “We call for the SAF and RSF to end the violence, to remove all barriers to addressing humanitarian needs, famine conditions, and gender-based violence, and to respect the laws of war with regards to civilian protection.

(EDITOR’S NOTE — Diana Chandler is Baptist Press’ senior writer.)