War crimes and crimes against humanity were committed in the city of El Fasher, western Sudan, after a prolonged siege by the paramilitary Rapid Support Forces, the International Criminal Court’s deputy prosecutor has said.
In a briefing to the UN Security Council, Nazhat Shameem Khan said the fall of El Fasher, North Darfur’s regional capital, to the RSF had been followed by a “calculated campaign of the most profound suffering". Her assessment was based on video, audio and satellite evidence.
The war in Sudan started in April 2023 when tension between army chief and Sudan's de facto leader, Gen Abdel Fattah Al Burhan, and RSF commander, Gen Mohamed Dagalo, over the future of the armed forces and the paramilitary group in a democratic Sudan erupted into fighting. The conflict quickly engulfed the capital before spreading across most of the vast Afro-Arab nation.
Nearly three years into the war, tens of thousands have been killed, more than 12 million displaced and the country is suffering one of the world's worst humanitarian crises, with nearly half the population – 25 million – facing hunger.
Reports of mass killings, sexual violence, abductions and looting emerged after the RSF's takeover of El Fasher, which had been the army’s last holdout position in Darfur.
“The picture that is emerging is appalling,” said Ms Khan. “Atrocities are used as a tool to assert control."
The crimes, she said, include rape, arbitrary detention, executions and the creation of mass graves, "often filmed and celebrated by perpetrators".
“This criminality is being repeated in town after town in Darfur,” Ms Khan added. “It will continue until this conflict, and the sense of impunity that fuels it, are stopped.”
While much of the briefing focused on RSF abuses, Ms Khan said the ICC was also documenting allegations of crimes committed by the Sudanese Armed Forces. Both warring parties have been accused of atrocities by the UN throughout the civil war.
Washington had previously called on the army-backed government in Sudan to acknowledge its use of chemical weapons throughout the conflict and to co-operate with international actors and watchdogs. In May, the US announced it would be imposing sanctions after determining the army-backed government used chemical weapons in 2024.
International calls for a humanitarian truce have failed so far.
