UN-Backed Mission Finds Evidence of 'Genocide' in Sudan's Darfur Attacks

Kathmandu. A United Nations-backed independent fact-finding mission has concluded that there is evidence of 'genocide' in attacks carried out by rebel groups in Sudan's Darfur region last October. The report characterizes the violence targeting non-Arab communities in and around the city of El Fasher as a planned and organized campaign.

According to the mission, the Rapid Support Forces (RSF) committed atrocities including mass killings, sexual violence, torture, and enforced disappearances in El Fasher after an 18-month siege. The report specifically notes that conditions were created to push the Zaghawa and Fur communities towards 'physical destruction.'

According to UN officials, thousands of civilians were killed when El Fasher, which remained the last stronghold of the Sudanese army, fell under RSF control. It is reported that only 40% of the city's approximately 260,000 residents managed to escape the attack, while the fate of the rest remains unknown.

Sudan has been mired in civil conflict since April 2023 after tensions between the army and paramilitary leadership spread from the capital Khartoum to Darfur. According to UN figures, more than 40,000 people have died in the war, although aid organizations suggest the actual number could be much higher.

The report states that the RSF and allied Arab militias killed more than six thousand people in the city between October 25 and 27. In an attack on the Abu Suk displacement camp outside the city, at least 300 people died in two days. The report indicates a systematic pattern of sexual violence and ethnically targeted killings.

The fact-finding team stated that at least three of the five criteria outlined in the 1948 'Genocide Convention' have been met. The report notes that the killing of members of a protected ethnic group, causing serious bodily or mental harm, and creating living conditions calculated to bring about physical destruction are key elements of genocide under international law.

Mohamed Chande Othman, the team's chairman, stated that this action was not an 'irregular atrocity of war' but a planned campaign. According to survivors quoted in the report, the attackers issued threats based on ethnicity.

The mission, established by the UN Human Rights Council in 2023, has called for perpetrators to be held accountable and for the prioritization of civilian protection. Although both sides have been accused of violating international law during the conflict, the RSF has been held responsible for the majority of the atrocities.

The RSF is a group that evolved from the Janjaweed militia. It was involved in a violent campaign in Darfur in the early 2000s that killed nearly 300,000 people and displaced 2.7 million. UN experts also allege that the group received support from the United Arab Emirates during the war, which the concerned parties have denied.