Sudan: Amnesty accuses RSF of war crimes in assault on refugee camp

An international rights group on Wednesday accused the paramilitary group fighting against Sudan's military of committing war crimes during its attack earlier this year on the country's largest displacement camp in the Darfur region.

The Rapid Support Forces, which is at war with the Sudanese military, rampaged through the Zamzam camp in April as part of its siege of the city of el-Fasher, the provincial capital of North Darfur province. The RSF seized the city, the military’s last stronghold in Darfur, in an October attack that was marked by the executions of civilians, rapes and sexual assaults, and other atrocities.

Amnesty International said in a report that the RSF's multi-day attack on Zamzam involved killings of civilians, hostage taking and the destruction of mosques, schools and health clinics, and that they must be investigated as war crimes.

“The RSF’s horrific and deliberate assault on desperate, hungry civilians in Zamzam camp laid bare once again its alarming disregard for human life,” said Agnès Callamard, Amnesty International’s secretary-general.

‘Not an isolated attack’

Amnesty’s report was the latest by an international rights group to accuse RSF of atrocities in Sudan’s 30-month war. These have included mass killings and rapes in attacks on towns and cities, particularly in Darfur. The Sudan military also has been accused of atrocities in the war.

A power struggle between the military and the RSF erupted into war in April 2023. The conflict has killed 40,000 people — though some rights groups say the death toll is significantly higher — and has created the world’s worst humanitarian crisis with over 14 million displaced. Many areas have experienced famine, including at the Zamzam camp.

“This was not an isolated attack, but part of a sustained campaign against villages and camps for internally displaced persons,” Callamard said of the Zamzam assault.

The RSF didn’t immediately respond to a request for comment. But following the attack, the group claimed that the camp was used as a base by the military and its allied militias, and said that its fighters didn’t target civilians. Amnesty also said the RSF didn't respond to its request for comment.

Residents and aid workers who survived the attacks told The Associated Press in May that RSF fighters gunned down men and women in the streets of the camp, beat and tortured others and raped and sexually assaulted women and girls. The paramilitaries burned down large swaths of houses, markets and other buildings. The April 11 attack virtually emptied the 20-year-old camp, which was once home to some 500,000 residents.