Sudan war: RSF committed crimes against humanity in el-Fasher, Amnesty says
Amnesty International believes RSF fighters committed gross human rights violations in al-Fasher and its surroundings during the 18-month siege of the city.
“Children did not suffer collateral damage from this violence; they were often deliberately targeted and suffered immense suffering. They were killed, injured, raped, kidnapped and forcibly recruited,” said Agnès Callamard, secretary general of Amnesty International.
In its report, which detailed dozens of accounts from more than 200 survivors, Amnesty International said the evidence collected “may be relevant to the crime of genocide.”
“They tied me up and beat me with sticks and the back of an AK-47. Then one of them approached on a camel and… shot me in the leg,” said a 17-year-old teenager who was attacked in Abu Zerega, a town south of Al Fasher.
The young boy, who now uses crutches to walk, said eight of his cousins, including four boys aged between 11 and 17, were killed in the same attack.
Many victims were targeted and killed because of their ethnic identity, say Amnesty International researchers, who reviewed 89 open source videos and conducted extensive analysis of satellite imagery from North Darfur.
According to the rights group, Arab fighters affiliated with the RSF went after members of local non-Arab communities and used ethnic slurs that often translated as “slave” or “servant.”
Arab militias affiliated with the RSF have a long history of violence against black African groups in Darfur.
Amnesty International said that in the al-Fasher case, the armed groups defending the city were predominantly from the Zaghawa ethnic group, and that RSF fighters targeted Zaghawa civilians as well as combatants.
Witnesses also spoke of mass shootings, sexual violence and deliberate targeting of children.
Callamard, secretary general of Amnesty International, said the “world has been warned of the horrors faced by civilians in al-Fasher as the RSF lay siege to the city”.
Callamard said, “This is a stain on the conscience of humanity,” and called for an immediate ceasefire in Sudan and the urgent deployment of an international force to protect civilians.
Amnesty International said it had identified RSF commanders responsible for violations of international law and highlighted the need for accountability.
The RSF leadership acknowledged that some violations had occurred and said it was investigating them, but insisted that the extent of the atrocities had been exaggerated.
The report adds to growing evidence of atrocities at al-Fasher, which the UN said early last year bore “signs of genocide”.
The UN report stated that more than 6,000 people were killed in just three days following the attack on Al-Fasher.
International pressure is mounting on supporters of this conflict to leave.
Aid agencies say the conflict has led to the world’s worst humanitarian crisis, with more than 14 million people displaced from their homes and 28 million facing acute hunger.
Additional reporting by Kaleb Moges
