A new report released by United Nations experts revealed that paramilitary forces and their allied militias fighting for power in Sudan have carried out large-scale ethnic killings and rapes as they take control of much of West Darfur, which could amount to war crimes and crimes against humanity.
The report to the United Nations Security Council, obtained Thursday by The Associated Press, paints a terrifying picture of the brutality of the Arab-dominated Rapid Support Forces (RSF) against Africans in Darfur.
It also explains how Rapid Support Forces managed to take control of four of Darfur’s five states, in part through complex financial networks involving dozens of companies.
In their 47-page report, the experts indicate that the RSF and its militias targeted sites in Darfur where displaced people had found refuge, civilian neighbourhoods, and medical facilities.
Sudan plunged into chaos in April, when long-simmering tensions between the army, led by General Abdel Fattah Burhan, and the Rapid Support paramilitary forces, commanded by Mohammed Hamdan Dagalo, boiled over into street fighting in the capital, Khartoum.
The fighting has spread to other parts of the country, but in Sudan’s Darfur region, it has taken a different form: brutal attacks by Rapid Support Forces against African civilians, particularly members of the Masalit ethnic group.
Two decades ago, Darfur became synonymous with genocide and war crimes, particularly by Arab Janjawid militias against populations who identify with Central or East Africa.
This appears to be the case again, with International Criminal Court prosecutor Karim Khan saying in late January that there was reason to believe both sides were committing war crimes, crimes against humanity. or genocides in Darfur.
The panel said Darfur was experiencing “its worst violence since 2005”.
The ongoing conflict has caused a large-scale humanitarian crisis and displaced around 6.8 million people – 5.4 million in Sudan and 1.4 million who have fled to other countries, including around 555,000 to neighboring Chad, said the experts.
Both the RSF and rival Sudanese government forces have used heavy artillery and shelling in highly populated areas, leading to the mass destruction of critical water, sanitation, and sanitation facilities. , education, and health care.
According to intelligence sources, the panel said that in one town alone – Geneina, the capital of West Darfur state near the Chad border – between 10,000 and 15,000 people were killed.
