UN Investigation: RSF Atrocities in Sudan’s al-Fashir Bear the Hallmarks of Genocide

GENEVA – A new report from an independent UN-mandated investigation has concluded that the mass killings and systematic abuses perpetrated by the Rapid Support Forces (RSF) during their capture of the Sudanese city of al-Fashir bear the defining characteristics of genocide.

The report, released Thursday by the UN Independent International Fact-Finding Mission for the Sudan, details how the paramilitary group specifically targeted non-Arab communities during its takeover of the city—the last remaining stronghold of the Sudanese Armed Forces (SAF) in the vast western region of Darfur.

According to the mission, when the RSF finally seized al-Fashir at the end of October 2024, it unleashed a wave of premeditated violence. Over a period of three days, thousands of civilians were killed and subjected to sexual violence in a campaign designed to destroy specific ethnic groups.

A Siege Designed for Destruction

The takeover was the culmination of an 18-month siege. The UN investigators found that the siege itself was not merely a military tactic but a calculated strategy to impose conditions of life intended to bring about the physical destruction of non-Arab communities, “in particular the Zaghawa and the Fur.”

The report presents a devastating pattern of coordinated attacks targeting individuals based on their ethnicity. The RSF systematically carried out mass killings, rape, torture, and other acts of violence. Crucially, the mission found evidence that these actions were not random acts of war but core elements of the crime of genocide as defined under international law: killing members of a group, causing serious bodily or mental harm, and deliberately inflicting conditions of life calculated to bring about the group’s physical destruction.

‘Exterminatory Rhetoric’ and Systematic Violence

The report paints a harrowing picture of the attack on al-Fashir, a city whose population included many Zaghawa, as well as displacement camps housing Fur, Berti, Masalit, and Tama communities.

“Survivors describe explicit threats to ‘clean’ the city,” the report states, quoting witnesses who heard RSF fighters say, “Is there anyone Zaghawa among you? If we find Zaghawa, we will kill them all.”

The UN mission documented a litany of horrors:

• Mass Killings: Survivors recounted point-blank executions of civilians, with the bodies of men, women, and children left filling the streets.

• Targeted Sexual Violence: Women and girls from non-Arab communities, particularly the Zaghawa and ranging in age from seven to 70, were systematically raped and subjected to other acts of sexual violence, including whipping and forced public nudity.

• Infrastructure of Life Destroyed: The RSF attacked not only displacement camps but also communal kitchens and medical centers with drones and heavy weapons. These attacks, combined with widespread looting and beatings, were part of the effort to dismantle the essential support systems for the targeted communities.

A Planned Operation, Not a ‘Crime of War’

The report explicitly links the atrocities to the highest levels of the RSF command. “The scale, coordination, and public endorsement of the operation by senior RSF leadership demonstrate that the crimes committed in and around al-Fashir were not random excesses of war,” said Mohamed Chande Othman, Chair of the Fact-Finding Mission for Sudan. “They formed part of a planned and organized operation that bears the defining characteristics of genocide.”

The final draft of the report was shared with Sudan’s legitimate government, which did not provide a response. The RSF also did not respond to the mission’s request to meet with its leadership. Both the RSF and the SAF did not immediately respond to requests from Reuters for comment. In the past, the RSF has consistently denied such abuses, claiming the accounts are fabricated by its enemies and levelling counter-accusations against them.

The UN mission was mandated by the Human Rights Council in November 2024 to urgently investigate the serious violations and abuses of international law in and around al-Fashir. This new report provides the most comprehensive evidence to date that the violence there constitutes a genocidal campaign.

 

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