It concluded: “El Fasher appears to be engaged in a systematic and intentional process of ethnic cleansing of… non-Arab indigenous communities through forced displacement and summary executions.”
More than a quarter of a million people had taken refuge in the city under starvation and shelling, in what had been the army’s last stronghold in the vast Darfur region.
Sudan’s two-and-a-half-year civil war has reignited ethnic bloodshed in the region, with RSF fighters accused of massacring black African groups to seize their land.
The RSF is largely made up of Arab militias and was formed from the infamous Janjaweed, responsible for the genocide and mass atrocities in Darfur 20 years ago. Their capture of other enclaves, including El Geneina in 2023, led to ethnic massacres of thousands of people. Refugees and aid workers have spent the past 18 months warning that similar atrocities were likely if El Fasher fell.
Cameron Hudson, former US National Security Council director for Africa, said: “We have seen what is happening in El Fasher before.
RSF fighters celebrate in the streets of El-Fasher on Sunday, in an image taken from RSF’s Telegram account.Credit: AFP
“It was two years ago in El Geneina and when the RSF took the city, they started a campaign of ethnic cleansing and genocide. It is happening again and we still do nothing. What a shame for them. What a shame for us.”
In another scene, several militants dressed in the RSF’s signature brown uniforms and turbans are seen packed into a truck, chasing unarmed civilians as they run for their lives.
Gunshots are heard as a fighter shouts “kill the Nuba,” in reference to the black African tribes of Sudan.
Reports indicate that the RSF is deliberately forcing displaced civilians eastwards into areas under their control, in virtual no man’s land, and away from humanitarian centers such as Tawila, where some international agencies operate.
Residents gather for free meals at El Fasher in August.Credit: AFP
According to Jeremy Konyndyk, president of Refugees International, RSF is preventing people from fleeing the city in other directions, specifically blocking movement to the south and west, and forcing them to move to the east, where there is no security or access to aid.
British Foreign Secretary Yvette Cooper said: “We are witnessing a deeply disturbing pattern of abuses in El Fasher, including systematic murder, torture and sexual violence.”
The UN Human Rights Office said it had received “multiple and alarming reports that RSF is carrying out atrocities, including summary executions.”
UN human rights chief Volker Türk said the risk of new large-scale ethnically motivated violations and atrocities in El Fasher was “growing day by day”.
Patients infected with cholera receive treatment at a refugee camp in Tawila, western Sudan, last month.Credit: AFP
Sudan’s catastrophic civil war is in its third year and the UN and aid agencies say the fighting has produced the world’s worst humanitarian crisis.
The rivalry between the de facto president, General Abdel Fattah al-Burhan, and his deputy, General Mohamed Hamdan Dagalo, known as Hemedti, erupted into open clashes in April 2023.
The fighting has forced 14 million people to flee their homes and some estimates have put the death toll as high as 150,000. The health system collapsed and several parts of the country were plunged into famine.
Sudanese army chief General Abdel Fattah al-Burhan in 2021.Credit: AP
A UN fact-finding mission accused both sides of committing a “shocking range of appalling human rights violations and international crimes,” including mass rapes, arbitrary detentions and torture.
Rivals have turned to regional allies for help, and the UAE has been accused of supporting the RSF with supplies and mercenaries through Chad and Libya.
Meanwhile, Sudan’s army would have received support from Egypt, Russia and Iran.
Charging
The United Arab Emirates flatly denies supporting either side and says it has been pushing for a ceasefire.
The country is part of the so-called Quartet of nations, along with the United States, Saudi Arabia and Egypt, that have been leading efforts to find a negotiated peace.
The Telegraph, London
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