Sudan's paramilitary Rapid Support Forces (RSF) have allegedly committed numerous crimes against humanity during their siege of the city of el-Fasher in Darfur, UN investigators say.
The report by the UN Fact-Finding Mission accuses the group of murder, torture, enslavement, rape, sexual slavery, sexual violence, forced displacement and persecution on ethnic, gender and political grounds.
It also cited broader evidence of alleged war crimes by both the RSF and the regular army; however, both sides have previously denied any wrongdoing in the country's ongoing civil war.
The UN report indicated that both groups targeted civilians through a series of deliberate strategies, rather than random acts of violence.
Fact-Finding Mission chair, Mohamed Chande Othman, stated, Both sides have deliberately targeted civilians through attacks, summary executions, arbitrary detention, torture, and inhuman treatment in detention facilities, including denial of food, sanitation, and medical care. He emphasized that these are not accidents, but strategies that amount to war crimes.
The RSF's actions in el-Fasher highlight the prevalence of starvation as a method of warfare, potentially classified as extermination. In April, the RSF stormed the Zamzam refugee camp near el-Fasher, displacing tens of thousands of vulnerable individuals already affected by famine.
The city of el-Fasher has been under siege for over a year, marking the Sudanese army's last major foothold in the Darfur region. The ongoing conflict has led to accusations by the US, labeling the RSF's actions as genocide against Darfur's non-Arab population, claims the paramilitary group denies while blaming the violence on local militias.
As the situation escalates, the US has imposed sanctions on army chief Gen Abdel Fattah al-Burhan for civilian deaths and using food deprivation as a weapon of war.
A recent Yale University analysis of satellite images revealed extensive preparations by the RSF to entrap civilians, indicating a premeditated strategy to intensify the siege.
The report, titled A War of Atrocities, urges the international community to enforce an arms embargo and establish an independent judicial process to hold alleged perpetrators accountable. The findings underscore that civilians are paying the highest price in this brutal conflict, which has already claimed tens of thousands of lives and forced 13 million to flee their homes.
