**GENEVA** – A United Nations fact-finding mission has concluded that atrocities perpetrated during the recent siege and subsequent takeover of El-Fasher, a critical city in Sudan's western Darfur region, exhibit the defining characteristics of genocide. The damning report, released this week, implicates the Rapid Support Forces (RSF) and allied militias in actions that appear to stem from a deliberate intent to annihilate the Zaghawa and Fur ethnic communities.
The UN investigators identified at least three distinct genocidal acts underpinning their conclusion: the killing of individuals belonging to a protected ethnic group, the infliction of severe bodily and psychological harm, and the calculated imposition of living conditions designed to bring about the physical destruction of these communities. This assessment follows months of escalating international condemnation of potential war crimes and crimes against humanity occurring within Sudan's nearly three-year-long civil war. The conflict, which erupted in April 2023, initially stemmed from a power struggle between the Sudanese army and the RSF over security sector integration but has since metastasised into a nationwide conflagration, exacerbated by deep-seated regional grievances and ethnic animosities.
According to the report, the RSF’s strategy in El-Fasher involved a protracted blockade lasting 18 months, during which humanitarian aid was systematically denied, leading to widespread starvation. This was reportedly followed by mass killings, instances of rape, torture, enforced disappearances, and systematic humiliation. Mona Rishmawi, an expert member of the fact-finding mission, stated, "The body of evidence we collected — including the prolonged siege, starvation and denial of humanitarian assistance, followed by mass killings, rape, torture and enforced disappearance, systematic humiliation and perpetrators' own declarations - leaves only one reasonable inference. The RSF acted with intent to destroy, in whole or in part, the Zaghawa and Fur communities in El-Fasher. These are the hallmarks of genocide."
The mission’s chair, Mohamed Chande Othman, underscored the premeditated nature of the RSF's actions, noting, "The scale, coordination, and public endorsement of the operation by senior RSF leadership demonstrate that the crimes committed in and around El Fasher were not random excesses of war." The UN team amassed its findings through over 320 interviews with survivors, statements from RSF commanders, and corroborating evidence from verified video footage and satellite imagery. The report’s findings represent the closest the UN has come to alleging genocide in Darfur during the current conflict, echoing the horrific atrocities committed by the Janjaweed militias, the precursor to the RSF, in the early 2000s, which resulted in hundreds of thousands of deaths and millions displaced.
The implications of the UN report are far-reaching. The United Kingdom has announced its intention to present the findings to the UN Security Council, signalling a potential escalation in international diplomatic pressure. Calls are mounting for comprehensive international criminal investigations to ensure accountability for the perpetrators and deliver justice to the victims. Simultaneously, the conflict continues to exact a brutal toll on civilians beyond Darfur. Recent separate drone strikes across Sudan's Kordofan region have resulted in significant casualties. Unicef reported that at least 15 children were killed in a strike on a displacement camp in West Kordofan earlier this week, while another strike on a market in North Kordofan claimed 28 lives. Both the Sudanese army and the RSF have faced accusations regarding these airstrikes, highlighting the pervasive and indiscriminate nature of the violence. The international community is also being urged to cease the flow of arms that continues to fuel this devastating conflict, as the human cost of the Sudanese civil war mounts with alarming regularity.