“Halmarks of genocide” are present throughout the RSF siege of El Fasher in Sudan. A UN delegation discovers

According to a UN-mandated fact-finding investigation, the paramilitary Rapid Support Forces group’s siege and conquest of the Sudanese city of El Fasher last October had “the hallmarks of genocide.”  The RSF and its militias purposefully created conditions intended to cause the physical destruction of the Zaghawa and Fur ethnic communities, according to a report that described the horrific 18-month occupation of the capital of North Darfur.

“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,” said Mohamed Chande Othman, the mission’s chair, who called for a thorough investigation of the perpetrators.

The study was released one day after the European Union, the United Kingdom, and Canada condemned potential war crimes and crimes against humanity in Sudan during the almost three-year conflict.Its publication comes as dozens of people have been killed by the most recent round of drone attacks in Sudan’s Kordofan region, where the UN has repeatedly said that serious abuses are occurring.

According to Unicef, a drone strike on a West Kordofan displacement camp this week killed at least 15 children. Another strike on a market in neighboring North Kordofan killed 28 people, according to local rights campaigners. The RSF has been accused of carrying out the strike in North Kordofan, while the Sudanese army has been held accountable for the attack in West Kordofan.

During a rift between its leader, Muhammad Hamdan Dagalo, and the army head, Abdel Fattah al-Burhan, who were once allies and took power during the 2019 Sudanese revolution that overthrew longstanding ruler Omar al-Bashir, the RSF has been fighting the army since April 2023. 

The United Arab Emirates has supported the RSF, a stance the Gulf state disputes in spite of data gathered by the UN, independent experts, and journalists. The organization developed from the Janjaweed militias, which were well-known for their brutal campaign in Darfur in the early 2000s that murdered 300,000 people and displaced 2.7 million more.

Othman said: “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. They formed part of a planned and organised operation that bears the defining characteristics of genocide.”

Investigators said RSF militiamen had acted with impunity and “with genocidal intent” and that as conflict’s focus shifts from Darfur to Kordofan, outside countries must act decisively to hold perpetrators to account “and bring an end to this senseless violence”.

The report documents widespread sexual violence against girls and women aged seven to 70, including those who were pregnant. Survivors said they were attacked in front of family members, with the assaults often involving severe physical abuse.

In one incident, a 12-year-old girl was raped by three RSF fighters as her mother watched, moments after her father was killed while trying to shield her. The girl later died from her injuries.

The results showed that these attacks often happened at the same sites where mass murders had occurred, such as El Fasher University and El Saudi Hospital. According to witnesses, RSF members reportedly publicly gang-raped at least 19 women in rooms filled with corpses, including the victims’ husbands.

Three RSF commanders were sanctioned by the United States on Thursday for their involvement in the siege and conquest of El Fasher. The RSF committed “ethnic killings, torture, starvation, and sexual violence” during the operation, according to the US Treasury.