The UN has assessed the actions of the RSF armed group in Sudan as genocide.
In its report published in February of this year, the UN mission noted that the mass killings committed against non-Arab communities during the capture of Al-Fashir bore signs of genocide.
The United Nations (UN) Fact-Finding Mission in Sudan has stated that the mass killings, abductions of women and girls, gang rapes, and deliberate starvation of civilians committed by the Rapid Support Forces (RSF) in the city of El Fasher, North Darfur, bear the hallmarks of genocide, reports Reuters.
The report notes that the RSF, which has been involved in a civil war with the Sudanese army for over three years, captured El Fasher last year after a prolonged siege. According to evidence gathered by the mission, the delivery of humanitarian aid was obstructed during the city's siege, food production systems were shelled, and starvation was used as a weapon of war.
The scale of the violence is also reflected in the testimonies of survivors. They say that some women and girls were raped in rooms where the bodies of recently killed civilians, including family members, were lying.
In a report published earlier this year in February, the UN mission had already noted the presence of genocidal indicators in the mass killings committed against non-Arab communities when El Fasher was captured. The new report provides additional evidence that the widespread killings, mass rapes, and deliberate starvation were part of a pre-planned policy.
The RSF has denied the allegations leveled against it, stating that such claims are fabricated by its enemies.
Meanwhile, UN High Commissioner for Human Rights Volker Türk has warned of a similar humanitarian catastrophe unfolding around the city of El Obeid in North Kordofan state. His office has documented cases of extrajudicial executions, abductions, torture, and sexual violence in the area.
The UN Human Rights Council condemned the violence and decided to launch an urgent investigation into potential violations committed around El Obeid. The United Kingdom and other states have warned of the risk of widespread atrocities as the RSF amasses forces in the area.
Mohamed Chande Othman, the head of the UN Fact-Finding Mission, emphasized that the siege, attacks on civilian infrastructure, obstruction of humanitarian aid, and widespread violence against civilians documented in El Fasher should serve as a serious warning.
