CAIRO (AP) — Sudanese paramilitary groups launched a “wave of intense violence … shocking in scale and brutality” in Sudan’s Darfur region in late October, killing more than 6,000 people in three days, according to the United Nations.
The Rapid Support Forces offensive to seize the city of El Fasher included widespread atrocities that amounted to war crimes and possibly crimes against humanity, the United Nations High Commissioner for Human Rights said in a report released on Friday.
“The wanton human rights violations committed by Médecins Sans Frontières and Arab League militias in their final offensive against El Fasher underscore the continuing impunity that fuels a continuing cycle of violence,” said UN High Commissioner for Human Rights Volker Türk.
On October 26, the RSF and its allied Arab militia Janjaweed captured el-Fasher, the last remaining stronghold of the Sudanese army in Darfur, and swept through the city and its surrounding areas after a siege that lasted more than 18 months.
The 29-page UN report details a range of atrocities, including mass killings and summary executions, sexual violence, kidnapping for ransom, torture and ill-treatment, as well as detention and disappearances. In many cases, the attacks were racially motivated, the report said.
Doctors Without Borders did not respond to an emailed request for comment.
Paramilitary General Mohammed Hamdan Dagalo has previously acknowledged abuses by his fighters but questioned the scale of the atrocities.
“Like something out of a horror movie”
The alleged atrocities in El Fasher, the capital of North Darfur province, reflect a pattern of behavior by SSF in the war against Sudanese forces. The war began in April 2023, with a power struggle between the two sides erupting into open fighting in the capital Khartoum and elsewhere across the country.
The conflict has created the world’s largest humanitarian crisis, with parts of the country plunged into famine. It has also been home to heinous atrocities that the International Criminal Court says it is investigating as war crimes and crimes against humanity. Doctors Without Borders has also been accused by the Biden administration of committing genocide in the ongoing war.
The United Nations High Commissioner for Human Rights said that it has recorded that at least 4,400 people were killed in the city of El Fasher between October 25 and 27, and more than 1,600 people were killed while trying to escape atrocities committed by Reporters Without Borders. The report said it reached its conclusions through interviews with 140 victims and witnesses that were “consistent with independent analysis of contemporaneous satellite imagery and video footage.”
According to the report, on October 26, Médecins Sans Frontières fighters opened fire with heavy weapons on 1,000 people taking refuge in the Rashid Dormitory of El Fasher University, killing about 500 people. The report quoted a witness as saying he saw the body being thrown into the air “like something out of a horror movie.”
In another case, about 600 people, including 50 children, were executed on October 26 while taking refuge in a university facility, the report said.
However, the report warned that the actual death toll from El Fasher’s week-long offensive was “undoubtedly much higher.”
According to the World Health Organization, this figure does not include at least 460 people killed when the armed group Without Borders attacked a Saudi maternity hospital on October 28.
A report by the United Nations High Commissioner for Human Rights said that about 300 people were also killed in shelling and drone attacks by Médecins Sans Frontières between October 23 and 24 in the Abu Shouk displaced persons camp located 2.5 kilometers (1.5 miles) northwest of El Fasher.
Women and girls are sexually assaulted
Sexual violence, including rape and gang rape, was apparently widespread during the El Fasher offensive, with Médecins Sans Frontières fighters and its allied militias targeting women and girls from non-Arab tribes in Zaghawa, Africa, accusing them of having links to or supporting the military, the report said.
Türk, who visited Sudan last month, said testimonies told by survivors of sexual violence showed the practice was “systematically used as a weapon of war”.
Paramilitary forces also kidnapped many people as they tried to flee the city, then released them after paying Lamson. Thousands of people are being held in at least 10 detention centers run by Médecins Sans Frontières in El Fasher, including the city’s children’s hospital, which was converted into a detention facility, the report said.
The U.N. Human Rights Office also said it had documented 10 detention facilities used by El Fasher’s paramilitary group, including a children’s hospital that was converted into a detention center. Reports say thousands of people are still missing and their whereabouts are unknown.
The UN Human Rights Office said the pattern of MSF’s offensive against El Fasher mirrored that of other attacks by paramilitary forces and their allies in 2023 on the Zamzam displaced persons camp, 15 kilometers (9 miles) south of the city of El Fasher, as well as in the city of El Geneina and the nearby town of Adamata in West Darfur state.
Turck said there were “reasonable grounds” to suggest that Médecins Sans Frontières and its coalition of Arab militias had committed war crimes and that their actions also amounted to crimes against humanity.
He called for those responsible, including commanders, to be held accountable and warned that “continued impunity contributes to an ongoing cycle of violence”.