GENEVA – Sudan’s Rapid Support Forces (RSF) carried out brutal mass killings, systematic abductions of women and girls, and mass gang rapes in El Fasher, the UN Fact-Finding Mission for the Sudan said in a new report which provides more evidence that atrocities committed by warring parties in the north African nation constitute distinct markers of genocide.
The Fact-Finding Mission warned that similar patterns of civilian devastation are now actively being employed in El Obeid, where the Mission is launching an urgent inquiry into any alleged human rights violations and abuses.
The latest investigation – a supplementary paper building on the severe international law violations the Mission documented in its earlier report, “Hallmarks of Genocide in El-Fasher” – details additional evidence of atrocities, including detention, torture, ransom-taking and the enforced disappearance of civilians.
“Our investigations not only provide the evidentiary basis underpinning our findings on El Fasher, but reflect the Mission’s continued investigations into violations that have devastated communities across Darfur,” said Mohamed Chande Othman, Chair of the Fact-Finding Mission. “The patterns we documented in El Fasher – including encirclement, attacks on civilian infrastructure, restrictions on humanitarian access, and widespread abuses against civilians – serve as a stark warning. The international community must heed these lessons and act to prevent further catastrophe.”
The report comes at a time of growing concern over the situation in El Obeid, where more than half a million residents and over 100,000 internally displaced persons are facing increasing insecurity, attacks on critical infrastructure and restrictions affecting access to essential services.
In a resolution adopted without a vote on 6 July, the Human Rights Council expressed deep concern at the imminent risk of large-scale atrocities by the RSF in and around El Obeid and requested the Fact-Finding Mission to conduct an urgent inquiry into any violations and abuses of international human rights law, violations of international humanitarian law and related international crimes allegedly committed in the area.
During the Human Rights Council’s urgent debate on El Obeid on 3 July, the Mission warned that patterns previously observed in El Fasher appear to be emerging in El Obeid, including the city’s encirclement, attacks on infrastructure, growing humanitarian isolation and escalating risks to civilians. The Mission stressed that such warning signs had preceded devastating atrocities elsewhere in Sudan and urged immediate action to protect the population.
“The lessons of El Fasher must not be ignored,” said Mona Rishmawi, an expert member of the Fact-Finding Mission. “Our new paper demonstrates not only the devastating human cost of the atrocities committed in and around El Fasher, but also the warning signs that preceded them. We have seen this pattern before: the encirclement of cities, attacks on civilian infrastructure, restrictions on humanitarian access, and escalating violence against civilians. These are not isolated incidents – they are warning signs of further atrocity crimes.”
“The parties to the conflict – and those enabling them through the continued supply of weapons, drones and other forms of support – must act now to protect civilians,” Rishmawi said. “The international community still has a window of opportunity to prevent further atrocity crimes. El Obeid must not become the next crime scene.”
The Fact-Finding Mission reiterated its calls for effective accountability including prompt cooperation and action by the International Criminal Court.
“The suffering documented in this paper is measured not only in statistics, but in the lives of women, girls, men and children who have endured unimaginable violence,” added Joy Ngozi Ezeilo, an expert member of the Fact-Finding Mission. “Accountability remains essential, but so too does prevention. At a moment when serious concerns are being raised about the risks facing civilians in El Obeid, the findings from El Fasher underscore the need for urgent protection measures before more lives are lost.”
The Fact-Finding Mission will continue its investigations and will report on the situation in and around El Obeid to the Human Rights Council and the General Assembly pursuant to the Council’s resolution.