The actions of the RSF (Rapid Support Forces) rebels in the city of al-Fashir, which they captured last year during the Sudanese civil war between them and the Sudanese army, constitute genocide, according to a UN investigation.
These acts include, among other things, mass killings, gang rapes, and the deliberate starvation of civilians, which resulted from blocking the delivery of humanitarian aid and bombing food production systems.
Survivors told the UN mission that they were raped in rooms where the bodies of civilians murdered only moments earlier—including members of their own families—were still lying on the floor.
Sudan’s civil war began in April 2023 and, although an exact death toll is impossible to determine, it is estimated that hundreds of thousands of people have died.
The RSF have denied committing such acts during the more than three years of civil war, arguing that the testimonies have been fabricated by their enemies while making competing accusations against them.
The UN High Commissioner for Human Rights warned on Friday that a similar “catastrophe” is unfolding around another major city, al-Obeid, the capital of North Kordofan State, and that his office has documented repeated incidents of summary executions, abductions, torture, and sexual violence across the wider area.
The report states that additional evidence was identified showing that the RSF’s widespread and systematic conduct formed part of a premeditated policy.
Source: Reuters
