The Sudanese paramilitary Rapid Support Forces (RSF) committed crimes against humanity and ethnic cleansing during their siege and capture of El Fasher city in North Darfur from May 2024 to October 26, 2025, according to multiple investigations and survivor interviews [1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6].
The RSF launched an 18-month siege on El Fasher, restricting food and humanitarian aid while shelling the city almost daily, contributing to famine conditions. Their final offensive on October 26, 2025, was marked by mass executions of civilians trying to flee, including near a 57-kilometer berm network [4, 5, 6].
Amnesty International interviewed 247 victims and witnesses, including 208 survivors, who described widespread abuses by the RSF. These included murder, torture, rape, sexual slavery, forced displacement, imprisonment, enslavement, extermination, and persecution [1, 2, 3, 4, 6]. Amnesty’s Secretary General Agnès Callamard said, “Children were not collateral damage of this violence — often, they were deliberately targeted and have suffered immensely. They have been killed, injured, raped, abducted, and forcibly recruited on a massive scale” [2].
The RSF deliberately targeted the non-Arab Zaghawa ethnic group in settlements around El Fasher, consistent with ethnic cleansing policies [1, 2, 3, 4]. Mass killings were documented at locations such as the Saudi Maternity Hospital in El Fasher, constituting war crimes [5]. One survivor witnessed nearly 1,000 bodies following the final offensive [4, 5].
A UN fact-finding mission released a report in February 2026 concluding that the RSF’s 2025 assault showed hallmarks of genocide against non-Arab communities [1, 2, 3, 4]. Nearly 14 million people have been displaced across Sudan due to ongoing conflict, including in Darfur [4]. Children orphaned by the violence face acute risks of death, injury, and deprivation [1, 4, 5, 6].
On October 29, 2026, RSF leader Mohamed Hamdan Dagalo publicly acknowledged that violations occurred in El Fasher and announced the formation of investigative committees into the abuses [6]. Amnesty International called for an immediate nationwide ceasefire and deployment of an independent international protection force to safeguard civilians [2, 5, 6].
The next key development is the RSF’s ongoing administration of parts of Darfur under the self-styled Government of Peace and Unity, and international monitoring of promised investigations into war crimes remains critical [2, 6].
