Families escaping the violence in Ardamata cross into Chad in early November. Photo: El Tayeb Siddig/Reuter
Responding to the Rapid Support Forces (RSF) attacks on the famine-stricken Zamzam camp for internally displaced persons near North Darfur state capital El Fasher, Amnesty International’s Regional Director for East and Southern Africa, Tigere Chagutah, called for an end to violence against civilians seeking safety.
Chagutah said attacking and killing civilians seeking safety in a displaced persons camp and looting its market is unconscionable.
“The RSF and all other parties to the conflict must immediately end all attacks on civilians and stop using areas where civilians are present, including displaced persons camps, as battlefields. They must also immediately allow safe passage for civilians trying to escape the violence,” Chagutah emphasized.
“The attacks on Zamzam camp, amid the RSF’s continued siege of El Fasher, underscores the urgent need for real international pressure on the parties to the conflict to stop targeting civilians. Real pressure means instituting and enforcing a UN arms embargo across all of Sudan to stem the flow of weapons to all parties and hold individuals responsible for crimes under international law accountable. The Sudan conflict has been ignored enough,” he stressed.
On 11 February, the RSF entered Zamzam camp, home to half a million displaced persons, and killed and arrested numerous residents. On 13 February, according to media reports, the RSF attacked the camp again, with fighting taking place in the camp between RSF and the Joint Forces, a consortium of armed groups allied with the Sudanese Armed Forces.
The UN has reported two humanitarians were killed in attacks on the camp.
Safe passage has been blocked for some civilians trying to escape, including wounded people, according to the UN,Medecins Sans Frontieres, and the Director General of the North Darfur Ministry of Health.
Zamzam camp was established two decades ago to shelter civilians fleeing violence in the Darfur region.
