Sudan's paramilitary Rapid Support Forces (RSF) have allegedly committed numerous crimes against humanity during their siege of the city of el-Fasher in Darfur, UN investigators say.
The report by the UN Fact-Finding Mission accuses the group of murder, torture, enslavement, rape, sexual slavery, sexual violence, forced displacement and persecution on ethnic, gender and political grounds.
The report also cites broader evidence of alleged war crimes by both the RSF and the regular army; however, both sides have previously denied any wrongdoing in the country's ongoing civil war.
The UN report outlines that both groups targeted civilians in numerous ways, employing deliberate strategies.
Both sides have deliberately targeted civilians through attacks, summary executions, arbitrary detention, torture, and inhumane treatment in detention facilities, including denial of food, sanitation, and medical care, said Fact-Finding Mission chair, Mohamed Chande Othman.
Highlighting the RSF's actions in el-Fasher, the report accused the group of utilizing starvation as a method of warfare that may amount to the crime of extermination.
In April, the RSF stormed the Zamzam camp near el-Fasher, forcing tens of thousands of the world's most destitute people to flee their homes again. The situation in the camp was so dire that famine had been declared there.
The city of el-Fasher has been under siege for more than a year and is the Sudanese army's last major foothold in the Darfur region.
The US has accused the RSF of committing genocide against Darfur's non-Arab population. The paramilitary group has denied responsibility, blaming the violence on local militias.
The US has also placed sanctions on army chief Gen Abdel Fattah al-Burhan, accusing him of civilian deaths and using food deprivation as a weapon of war.
The army has been engaged in conflict with the RSF since April 2023, with intensified offensive operations reported in el-Fasher. Recent research by Yale University analyzing satellite imagery showed a significant blockade effort aimed at trapping civilians.
The report, titled A War of Atrocities, calls on the international community to enforce an arms embargo and establish an independent judicial process to ensure accountability for alleged war crimes. Our findings leave no room for doubt: civilians are paying the highest price in this war, Mr. Othman concluded.
Tens of thousands have died in Sudan's civil war, with approximately 13 million people forced to flee their homes.
