Responding to reports of violence and Rapid Support Forces (RSF) attacks on civilians in El Fasher, in Sudan’s North Darfur State, Amnesty International’s Regional Director for East and Southern Africa, Tigere Chagutah, said;
“The reports emerging from El Fasher are horrifying. The RSF must immediately end attacks on civilians and civilian infrastructure and allow humanitarian aid into the city. They must also guarantee safe passage for civilians who are trying to flee the violence.
“The people of El Fasher have already endured the RSF’s brutal 18-month long siege of the city. Now is the time for the UN, AU, regional and other international actors to act swiftly to prevent further civilian suffering. All those responsible for the ongoing atrocities must be held individually accountable.
“The RSF has a history of committing massive violations in both Darfur and the rest of Sudan including ethnically targeted attacks against non-Arab communities, deliberate killings of civilians, sexual violence against women and girls, and massacres reminiscent of those that took place in Darfur two decades ago. The international community must act now to prevent the RSF from repeating these atrocities in El Fasher.”
Background to the conflict between the RSF and SAF in Sudan
The ongoing conflict in Sudan began in April 2023. It has killed tens of thousands of people and displaced over 12 million, making it the world’s largest humanitarian crisis. The Rapid Support Forces (RSF), a paramilitary force that is fighting the Sudan Armed Forces (SAF), has laid siege on El Fasher since May 2024.
On 26 October, the RSF claimed that it had taken control of parts of El Fasher, the last major city in Darfur under SAF control. On 27 October, SAF announced it had withdrawn its forces from the city.
El Fasher was home to over 1.5 million people, including hundreds of thousands of internally displaced persons who fled fighting in other parts of Darfur in the early-2000s and from the ongoing conflict. It is estimated that around 260,000 civilians were trapped in the city ahead of the attacks on Sunday.
Amnesty International documented war crimes by the RSF and allied Arab militias where they jointly carried out ethnically targeted attacks against the Masalit and other non-Arab communities in West Darfur.
