In a recent report, the United Nations’ fact-finding mission for Sudan has delivered a damning assessment of the ongoing civil war, highlighting extensive crimes against humanity attributed to the paramilitary group, Rapid Support Forces (RSF). The report particularly emphasizes the brutality exhibited during the siege of El-Fasher in western Darfur, where civilian populations have borne the brunt of the violence.
Since the outbreak of conflict in April 2023, more than tens of thousands have lost their lives, and the humanitarian situation has deteriorated rapidly. Mission chief Mohamed Chande Othman underscored that the findings of the report leave “no room for doubt”: civilians are suffering the most severe consequences of the ongoing hostilities.
The report details a range of atrocities committed by the RSF, including murder, torture, forced displacement, and persecution based on ethnic grounds. These actions are part of a broader effort by the RSF to consolidate control over El-Fasher, the last significant city in Darfur still under army control. The RSF’s tactics during the siege have effectively immobilized the approximately 300,000 residents of El-Fasher, raising alarm over their plight.
The fact-finding mission denounced the use of starvation as a weapon of war, accusing the RSF and its allies of systematically depriving civilians of essential resources such as food, medicine, and relief supplies. Such actions could amount to the crime against humanity known as extermination.
Though the investigators were unable to conduct field investigations within Sudan, they gathered evidence through interviews with over 250 victims and witnesses in neighboring countries, in addition to reviewing documents and videos. The report, set to be presented to the UN Human Rights Council next week, indicates that both conflicting parties have engaged in arbitrary arrests, detentions, and torture based on ethnicity, political beliefs, or suspicions of collaboration with adversaries.
Survivors who experienced detention by the RSF described their facilities in chilling terms, likening them to “slaughterhouses.” Reports emerged of detainees being subjected to brutal beatings and extrajudicial executions.
In addition, the report documented widespread sexual violence, including rape, forced marriages, and sexual slavery, with particular targeting of women and girls from non-Arab communities—some as young as 12 years old.
The mission is calling for urgent international action to ensure accountability for those who perpetrate such heinous acts. Othman emphasized that the deliberate targeting of civilians through attacks, executions, and torture constitutes a pattern of behavior by both sides, characterizing these actions not as isolated incidents but as part of systematic strategies that meet the legal threshold for war crimes.
