UN probe finds mass killings, gang rapes by Sudan’s RSF amount to genocide
A UN Fact-Finding Mission concluded that the Rapid Support Forces committed genocide in el-Fasher, engaging in mass killings, gang rapes, and deliberate starvation as part of an intentional policy.
The United Nations Fact-Finding Mission for Sudan released its findings on Wednesday, determining that the paramilitary Rapid Support Forces (RSF) committed genocide in the western city of el-Fasher. The investigation found that the RSF’s systematic campaign of violence against civilians during and after its siege of the North Darfur capital included mass killings, gang rapes, and deliberate starvation as an intentional policy.
Survivors recounted being raped in rooms where bodies of recently killed civilians, including family members, still lay on the ground. The report also found the RSF and its allies committed the war crime of starvation by imposing a prolonged siege, blocking relief supplies, and shelling food production systems.
The mission’s chairman, Mohamed Chande Othman, warned that these findings serve as a stark warning for el-Obeid, another major city now surrounded by RSF forces, where the UN human rights chief has warned of an unfolding “catastrophe.” The UN Human Rights Office has documented patterns of summary executions, abductions, torture, and sexual violence in the surrounding region.
International attention, previously focused on Khartoum and Darfur, has recently shifted to el-Obeid as fighting intensifies in the Kordofan region. The UK and other states have warned of the risk of large-scale atrocities as RSF masses forces around the city, which is home to about 500,000 people, including over 83,000 internally displaced.
The RSF has denied the abuses, claiming the accounts are manufactured by its enemies. The UN Human Rights Council on Monday condemned the violence and set up an urgent inquiry into reported abuses in el-Obeid.
