A United Nations fact-finding mission has concluded that evidence from the siege and takeover of el-Fasher, Sudan, points to genocide. The paramilitary Rapid Support Forces (RSF) captured the city in Darfur after an 18-month blockade.
"The body of evidence we collected - including the prolonged siege, starvation and denial of humanitarian assistance, followed by mass killings, rape, torture and enforced disappearance, systematic humiliation and perpetrators' own declarations - leaves only one reasonable inference," stated fact-finding mission expert Mona Rishmawi. "The RSF acted with intent to destroy, in whole or in part, the Zaghawa and Fur communities in El-Fasher. These are the hallmarks of genocide."
The report details at least three underlying acts of genocide committed, including killing members of a protected ethnic group and deliberately inflicting conditions calculated to bring about physical destruction. UK Foreign Secretary Yvette Cooper called the findings "truly horrific" and pledged to bring them to the UN Security Council for international criminal investigations.
Investigators described the RSF's conduct in el-Fasher as an escalation of earlier patterns, noting a failure to prevent atrocities despite clear warnings. The report names RSF Leader Lt Gen Mohamed Hamdan Dagalo and spokesperson Lt Col Al-Fatih Al-Qurashi. The mission did not receive cooperation from Sudanese authorities, and investigators noted the RSF's campaign was reinforced by foreign mercenaries with advanced weaponry.