CSW is calling for urgent international action as credible reports of atrocities against civilians are emerging following the Rapid Support Forces’ (RSF) announcement that they had captured the city of El Fasher, the capital of North Darfur State in Sudan.
On 26 October the RSF declared that they had captured a Sudan Armed Forces (SAF) military outpost in El Fasher. Two days later, on 28 October, the leader of the SAF, General Abdel Fattah al-Burhan, confirmed that its forces had withdrawn from the city.
In the hours that followed the RSF’s announcement that they had taken El Fasher, communications networks to the city were restricted, with Sudanese across the country and in the diaspora reporting they were unable to reach loved ones still trapped in the city.
In the first 24 hours following the capture of the city, videos, audio files and photos detailing grave human rights violations committed by the RSF against civilians began to emerge. Images of summary executions, bodies of civilians in what appear to be mass graves, and audio files of RSF fighters targeting women and girls have been shared online.
There is also growing evidence that the RSF is targeting individuals who supported civilians in El Fasher who did not want to leave during the siege with food and medical assistance. Siham Hassan, a former Member of Parliament and community organiser who ran a kitchen to feed civilians has been identified as one of the civilians killed since the RSF captured the city. Journalist Muammar Ibrahim was detained by the RSF on 26 October, and calls have been made for his release.
In October CSW joined over 100 organisations and individuals calling for action to be taken to protect civilians as the siege on El Fasher took hold and a humanitarian catastrophe was unfolding. In their reporting, the Harvard Humanitarian Initiative was monitoring mounds of earth being built around the city. On 27 October reports began to emerge of massacres of civilians, turning those mounds into mass graves.
Those who were able to escape from El Fasher face a 50km walk to Tawila, while many who remain are children, elderly, and people who sustained injuries during bombardments of the city.
Many of the reports being shared on social media have been recorded by the RSF themselves. In addition to showing their own faces and crimes, there is also evidence of the recruitment of children by the RSF, with clearly underage boys also depicted perpetrating these crimes.
CSW’s Founder President Mervyn Thomas said: ‘The images and reporting emerging from El Fasher are horrific. These violations are being perpetrated as we speak, and many of those responsible act with impunity to the extent that they are recording themselves committing what may amount to war crimes and crimes against humanity. Images of RSF fighters humiliating, torturing and killing civilians are just a snapshot of the devastating violence that civilians in El Fasher have been enduring for the past 18 months and are now being subjected to without any protection. We are also deeply disturbed by the number of RSF fighters who appear to be children recruited to perpetrate unimaginable violence. CSW calls on the international community to ensure the protection of Tawila, where many have fled, and to insist on unhindered humanitarian access to the region.’
Perpetrators are not only among forces on the ground in Darfur, but also those who support, arm and fund the RSF. There are credible reports that the United Arab Emirates (UAE) has supported the RSF’s offensives in the country by supplying arms and facilitating the trading of gold and other natural resources from Darfur in international markets. There are also credible reports that the UAE has facilitated the recruitment of mercenaries from Russia and Colombia who have been involved in training RSF fighters, including children, in combat.
Mervyn Thomas continued: ‘Political negotiations have not stopped these appalling attacks on civilians in El Fasher. Working towards a sustainable peace in Sudan is essential, and given the events on the ground, so is establishing accountability mechanisms to bring the perpetrators of severe violence to account. However, attention must also turn to those fuelling and enabling the conflict and humanitarian crisis and its devastating impact on civilians. We call for the full implementation of arms embargos and targeted sanctions on those found to be facilitating and fuelling the atrocities being perpetrated in Sudan.’