Rapid Support Forces
Wednesday, 1 July 2026 | Author: Andrew Michael | File Photo | GT-News |
Amnesty International on Wednesday accused Sudan’s paramilitary Rapid Support Forces (RSF) of committing crimes against humanity and ethnic cleansing during their campaign to seize El Fasher in North Darfur, urging an immediate ceasefire and the deployment of an international force to protect civilians.
In a new report, City Under Siege, Children Under Fire, the rights group said its investigation documented widespread killings, torture, rape, sexual slavery, persecution, forced displacement and other grave abuses committed by the RSF between early 2024 and October 2025.
Amnesty said the findings were based on interviews with 247 people, including 208 survivors and witnesses, as well as analysis of satellite imagery and 89 verified videos.
“The war in Sudan is a war on civilians,” Amnesty International Secretary General Agnès Callamard said in a statement.
“The world was warned of the horrors that civilians in El Fasher confronted as the RSF laid siege to the city. It is a stain on the conscience of humanity.”
According to the report, the RSF systematically attacked villages and displacement camps surrounding El Fasher before imposing a months-long siege that restricted food and humanitarian supplies, contributing to famine conditions.
Amnesty said civilians, particularly children, bore the brunt of the violence. It documented killings, abductions, sexual violence and the recruitment of children by the RSF.
The report also concluded that the RSF persecuted civilians based on their ethnicity, particularly members of the Zaghawa community, and said evidence gathered during the investigation may also be relevant to the crime of genocide, although its investigation into that allegation remains ongoing.
Amnesty accused the RSF of carrying out mass executions after launching its final assault on El Fasher on October 26, 2025, and said its researchers documented attacks on Saudi Maternity Hospital, which it described as a protected civilian facility under international law.
The organisation identified several RSF commanders it said were linked to serious violations, including alleged involvement in summary executions and torture at detention facilities.
On June 10, Amnesty said it sent its findings to RSF leader General Mohamed Hamdan Dagalo seeking a response. It said no reply had been received by the time the report was published.
The RSF has not publicly responded to the allegations.
Sudan has been engulfed in war since April 2023 between the Sudanese Armed Forces and the RSF, triggering one of the world’s largest humanitarian crises, displacing millions and leaving vast areas of the country devastated.
