CRSV: Zanzibar Revolution

This case note documents the occurrence of sexual violence in violent conflict. It contains explicit mentions of different forms of sexual assault. Reader discretion is advised.

Background of the Conflict

During and after the Zanzibar Revolution in January 1964, Arab residents of Zanzibar were subject to targeted violence by the majority Black African population on the island. The Zanzibar Revolution began on January 12, 1964, and led to the overthrow of the Sultan of Zanzibar, Jamshid bin Abdullah and his Arab government, by the island’s majority Black Population. Inspired by John Okello, a preacher from Uganda, belonging to the small Christian minority in Zanzibar, the revolution was intended to resist the Arab elite, who dominated the island's politics and considered the Black majority as their inferiors (Burgess 2009). During the massacre, Arabs were mass murdered, raped, tortured, and deported from the island by the Black African militiamen under the leadership of the Afro-Shirazi and Umma Parties. Estimates suggest that between 13,000 and over 20,000 Arabs were killed, and some call this a genocide (Burgess 2009).

Prevalence of Sexual Violence

Reports show that Arabs were mass murdered, raped, tortured and deported from the island by Black African militiamen under the Afro-Shirazi Party and Umma Party. Women were rounded up in the hundreds and raped to death, while others were slaughtered for resisting rape (Babakarim 1994). The violence went on for a week until John Okello announced the end of the Arab persecution on Zanzibar Radio, and Arab women and men were rounded up and placed in separate detention camps (Babakarim 1994).

Basis of the Use of Sexual Violence

Although precise data on the scale and extent of sexual violence remains unclear, the targeting of Arab women was deliberate, and part of larger campaigns of ethnic erasure and genocide. It was also used as a tool to intimidate and torture Arab women as a means of retaliation against them for their elitist ways.

References

Babakerim (1994). The Aftermath of Zanzibar Revolution.

Burgess, G. T. (2009). Race, Revolution, and the Struggle for Human Rights in Zanzibar. Ohio University Press.