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, according to UN investigators.
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 the two groups targeted civilians in numerous ways, employing deliberate strategies against them.
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 added, These are not accidental tragedies but deliberate strategies amounting to war crimes.
Highlighting the RSF's actions in el-Fasher, the report indicated that the group has used starvation as a method of warfare, potentially constituting the crime of extermination.
In April, the RSF stormed the Zamzam camp near el-Fasher, forcing tens of thousands of vulnerable individuals to flee once more, as the camp had already been under severe distress, leading to a declared famine.
The city of el-Fasher has been under siege for more than a year and is the Sudanese army's last substantial foothold in the Darfur region of the country.
The US has accused the RSF of committing genocide against Darfur's non-Arab population. The paramilitary group has denied responsibility, attributing the violence to local militias.
The US has also imposed sanctions on army chief Gen Abdel Fattah al-Burhan for civilian deaths and for using food deprivation as a weapon of war.
The ongoing conflict between the army and the RSF erupted in April 2023, with the RSF recently intensifying its offensive on el-Fasher, evident from accounts by local residents.
Research conducted by Yale University, analyzing satellite images, revealed that 31 km of raised banks have been constructed since May in areas populated by the RSF just outside the city, indicating a strategy to trap civilians.
The report titled A War of Atrocities urged the international community to enforce an arms embargo and set up an independent judicial process to bring alleged perpetrators to justice.
Othman concluded, Our findings leave no room for doubt: civilians are paying the highest price in this war. Up to tens of thousands have died in Sudan's civil war, forcing around 13 million people to leave their homes.
