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, according to UN investigators.
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.
Broader evidence of alleged war crimes by both the RSF and the regular army was cited, with both sides denying any wrongdoing amid the ongoing civil war.
The UN report indicated that both groups targeted civilians in calculated ways, including through attacks, summary executions, arbitrary detention, torture, and degrading treatment in detention facilities.
President of the Fact-Finding Mission, Mohamed Chande Othman, stated, Both sides deliberately targeted civilians and these are not accidental tragedies but deliberate strategies amounting to war crimes.
Highlighting the RSF's actions, the report emphasized their use of starvation as a method of warfare, potentially qualifying as extermination. The RSF's siege has particularly affected the Zamzam camp near el-Fasher, leading to mass displacements and worsening famine conditions.
Since April, as the RSF intensified its offensive, local reports have detailed a rise in military fortifications aimed at trapping civilians.
The US has accused the RSF of genocide against Darfur's non-Arab population, emphasizing that the humanitarian situation continues to deteriorate, with millions displaced and tens of thousands killed.
As the international community is urged to intervene, Othman noted: Our findings leave no room for doubt: civilians are paying the highest price in this war.
