Sudan Fact-Finding Mission: Evidence in El Fasher reveals a genocidal campaign targeting non-Arab communities

And in faith Mission* War crimes and crimes against humanity occurred. Evidence indicates that at least three acts of genocide were committed.

Such acts include killing members of a protected ethnic group, causing serious physical and psychological harm, and imposing living conditions intended to destroy the group in whole or in part, all of which are elements of the crime of genocide under international law.

The report submitted to the Human Rights Council entitled: “Characteristics of genocide in El Fasher” He concluded that genocidal intent is the only reasonable conclusion that can be drawn from the RSF’s systematic pattern of ethnically targeted killings, sexual violence, destruction and public statements explicitly calling for the extermination of non-Arab communities, especially the Zaghawa and Fur.

Muhammad Shandi Othman, head of the mission, said: “The scope and coordination of the operation, and its public support from senior RSF commanders, demonstrate that the crimes committed in and around El Fasher were not random excesses of war, but rather were part of an organized and planned operation bearing the hallmarks of genocide.”

The report said that the control of El Fasher and its environs, which was carefully planned and implemented, was preceded by an 18-month siege that systematically weakened the targeted population through starvation, deprivation, trauma and detention, conditions calculated to destroy them.

The report stated that the city’s residents were physically exhausted, malnourished, and unable to flee, leaving them powerless in the face of the intense violence that followed.

The report stated that thousands of people, especially Zaghawa, were killed, raped or disappeared during three days of absolute terror. The Rapid Support Command praised the takeover as a “major and historic military victory,” and praised its fighters for “liberating” the city from the “terrorist Islamic army.”

Evidence of genocidal intent

The report documents a pattern of behavior specifically directed against protected ethnic groups, including mass killings, widespread rape, sexual violence, and torture during the takeover in late October. These actions were not incidental to the context of hostilities, but were committed in a manner and context that demonstrated an intent to destroy the targeted groups.

RSF fighters have publicly stated their intention to target and eliminate non-Arab communities. Survivors quoted them as saying: “Is there any Zaghawa among you? If we find a Zaghawa, we will kill them all.” “We want to eliminate everything black in Darfur.”

According to the report, these explicit statements, along with the systematic nature of the attacks, provide evidence of genocidal intent.

Discriminatory and racist statements have been used during widespread, systematic and coordinated rapes, including several gang rapes, and other forms of sexual violence.

The selective targeting of Zaghawa and Fur women and girls, while women perceived as Arab were often spared, underscores the discriminatory and destructive purpose of the violence. One survivor recalled an RSF member saying: “These are slaves. Kill them, destroy them, rape them.”

The fact-finding mission stressed the urgent need to protect civilians more than ever as the conflict spreads to the Kordofan region.

In the absence of effective preventive measures and accountability, the fact-finding mission considers that the risk of further acts of genocide remains present and serious.

The head of the mission said: “Perpetrators of these crimes must be held accountable at all levels of authority. Where evidence suggests genocide has occurred, the international community has a greater obligation to prevent, protect and ensure justice.”

---

In response to the human rights and humanitarian crisis resulting from the ongoing armed conflict in Sudan, the Human Rights Council decided on 11 October 2023, through resolution A/HRC/RES/54/2Establish an independent international fact-finding mission in Sudan to investigate and substantiate all alleged violations and abuses of human rights and violations of international humanitarian law and to establish the facts, circumstances and root causes thereof, including those committed against refugees, and related crimes in the context of the ongoing armed conflict that began on 15 April 2023, between the Sudanese Armed Forces and the Rapid Support Forces, as well as other warring parties.