Amnesty International has accused Sudan’s Rapid Support Forces of committing crimes against humanity during its seizure of El Fasher, adding new pressure over one of the bloodiest episodes of Sudan’s civil war.
The human rights organisation said in a report released Wednesday that RSF fighters carried out murder, torture, rape, enslavement and sexual slavery as part of what it described as a widespread and systematic attack on civilians in and around the North Darfur city.
Amnesty also accused the paramilitary force of deliberately targeting children and said non-Arab civilians were often singled out. The organisation said the alleged abuses amounted to persecution on ethnic grounds and that destruction in towns and villages, including Abu Zerega, was consistent with ethnic cleansing.
“The war in Sudan is a war on civilians,” Amnesty International secretary general Agnès Callamard said.
The RSF captured El Fasher in late October after an 18-month siege. The city had been the last Darfur stronghold of the Sudanese armed forces, which have been fighting the RSF since a power struggle between the two sides erupted into open war in April 2023.
Amnesty said it interviewed 247 people for the report, including 208 survivors, and reviewed documentary material, video and satellite imagery from North Darfur. The organisation named three RSF commanders it said were responsible for serious violations of international law.
A UN-backed fact-finding mission said in February that the RSF’s seizure of El Fasher showed “hallmarks of genocide” against non-Arab communities.
Amnesty called for an immediate ceasefire and the urgent deployment of an international force to protect civilians. Callamard said the international community must “break the cycle of impunity.”
