Sudan war: RSF commits crimes against humanity in El Fasher, says Amnesty

Amnesty believes that RSF fighters have committed serious human rights violations in and around El-Fasher during their 18-month siege of the city.

Agnes Callamard, Secretary-General of Amnesty International, said: “Children are not harmed by this violence – they are often deliberately targeted and suffer great suffering. They are killed, injured, raped, abducted and forced into labour.

Amnesty said in its report, which detailed the accounts of dozens of more than 200 survivors, that the evidence collected was “potentially related to genocide”.

“They tied me to the back with a stick and an AK-47 and beat me. Then one of them approached me on a camel… and just shot me in the leg,” said a 17-year-old boy who was attacked in the town of Abu Zarga, south of El Fasher.

The teenager, 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.

Amnesty researchers, who reviewed 89 open-source videos and conducted extensive analysis of satellite images from North Darfur, say many victims were targeted because of their ethnic identity.

The RSF’s Arab fighters targeted members of non-Arab communities in the area, the rights group said.

Eyewitnesses spoke of mass killings, sexual assaults and deliberate attacks on children.

“The world has been alerted to the atrocities committed by civilians in El Fasher when the RSF besieged the city,” said Amnesty’s Secretary General Callamard.

Calling for an immediate ceasefire in Sudan and the immediate deployment of an international force to protect civilians, Callamard added, “This is a stain on the conscience of humanity.”

Amnesty has identified RSF commanders responsible for violations of international law and is stressing the need for accountability.

RSF has not commented on Amnesty’s report, but has previously denied the allegations.

The report adds further evidence of the atrocities committed against El-Fasher, which the United Nations declared early last year as “genocide labels”.

Above In just three days of the attack, 6,000 people were killed The UN said in its report on El-Fasher.

Proponents of this conflict are under increasing international pressure.

The war has caused the world’s worst humanitarian crisis, with more than 14 million people displaced from their homes and 28 million at risk of starvation, according to aid organizations.

Additional reporting by Caleb Favors