GENEVA: A United Nations investigation has concluded that mass killings and abuses carried out by Sudan’s Rapid Support Forces (RSF) in al-Fashir last year show defining characteristics of genocide.
The UN Independent International Fact-Finding Mission for Sudan reported that when the RSF seized al-Fashir in October, thousands of civilians from non-Arab communities were killed, raped and tortured during three days of violence. The city had been the last stronghold of the Sudanese Armed Forces in Darfur after an 18-month siege.
Investigators found evidence of systematic targeting of the Zaghawa and Fur communities, among others, through killings, sexual violence and starvation tactics. Survivors described threats to “clean” the city and recounted executions, looting and attacks on displacement camps, kitchens and medical centers. Women and girls as young as seven were subjected to rape and other abuses.
Mohamad Chande Othman, chair of the mission, said the crimes were not random acts of war but part of a planned operation endorsed by RSF leadership. “They formed part of a planned and organised operation that bears the defining characteristics of genocide,” he stated.
The RSF has previously denied such allegations, accusing rivals of fabricating evidence. Neither the RSF nor the Sudanese government responded to the UN mission’s requests for comment.
British Foreign Secretary Yvette Cooper called the findings “truly horrific” and urged an emphatic international response, including a ceasefire. The UN Human Rights Council had mandated the probe after reports of widespread atrocities in Darfur.
The report underscores the scale of ethnic violence in Sudan, where displacement camps around al-Fashir housed Fur, Berti, Masalit and Tama communities. Witnesses told investigators that RSF fighters openly threatened to kill Zaghawa civilians, reinforcing the exterminatory intent documented in the findings.
This investigation adds weight to calls for stronger global action to halt atrocities in Sudan and protect vulnerable communities.
