Amnesty: RSF committed war crimes in Sudan’s Darfur

Amnesty International said on Tuesday that atrocities committed by a Sudanese paramilitary group in a Darfur town constituted war crimes, the latest accusation in the devastating war ravaging the country.

In a report, the international human rights organization indicated that it had collected testimonies describing the barbarities perpetrated by the Rapid Support Forces , or RSF, when their fighters took control of el-Fasher , the capital of North Darfur State , from the army at the end of last month.

The organization stated that the atrocities included the execution of dozens of unarmed men and the rape of women and girls. Amnesty added that others had been taken hostage by RSF fighters for ransom, and that witnesses reported seeing "hundreds of abandoned corpses" in the city streets and on the main roads leading out of el-Fasher.

"This persistent and widespread violence against civilians constitutes war crimes and may also constitute other crimes under international law ," said Agnès Callamard , Amnesty's Secretary General.

The FSR did not immediately respond to a request for comment. The group acknowledged that some of its fighters had committed violations in the city and promised to investigate.

Sexual assaults

The FSR, at war with the Sudanese army for more than two and a half years, captured el-Fasher at the end of October after a siege of more than 18 months. The city was the last military stronghold in the vast Darfur region .

Witnesses told the Associated Press last month that FSR fighters were going from house to house, killing civilians and committing sexual assaults . The World Health Organization reported that gunmen had killed at least 460 people at a hospital and abducted doctors and nurses.

Amnesty International stated in its report that its researchers interviewed 28 survivors who had managed to escape el-Fasher. The witnesses described "groups of men being shot or beaten" and hostage-taking for ransom.

The organization stated that FSR fighters had sexually assaulted women and girls. It cited a woman who claimed that she and her 14-year-old daughter were raped by FSR fighters on October 27 while trying to flee the city.

The woman indicated that her daughter's health had deteriorated and that she had died in a clinic in Tawila, a town located about 60 km west of el-Fasher, which has become a refuge for those fleeing the atrocities of the RSF, according to Amnesty.

Power struggle

Another 29-year-old woman said she was among 11 women abducted by RSF fighters and raped while trying to flee the city on October 26. She said she was raped three times by one fighter, while another watched.

"The world must not look away as more and more details emerge about the RSF's brutal attack on el-Fasher ," Callamard said, calling for all those who committed atrocities to be held accountable.

She criticized the United Arab Emirates for its alleged support of the RSF, support which she said fuels a relentless cycle of violence against civilians in Sudan. "These atrocities have been facilitated by the support provided by the United Arab Emirates to the RSF ," she added.

The United Arab Emirates have always denied this accusation.

The war in Sudan began in April 2023 due to a power struggle between the army and the FSR. The conflict has killed more than 40,000 people — a figure that human rights organizations believe is a significant underestimate — and caused a severe humanitarian crisis , with more than 14 million displaced people.

The FSR is largely composed of fighters from the Arab Janjaweed militia , accused of carrying out a government-backed genocidal campaign in Darfur in the 2000s, during which approximately 300,000 people were killed.

The group has been accused of a series of atrocities during the current war, and the Biden administration, in one of its last decisions, declared that the RSF had committed genocide in Darfur. The army has also been accused of atrocities—though not to the same extent as the paramilitary force.