Sudanese Paramilitary Possibly Engaged In Atrocities

A recent report by Human Rights Watch (HRW), released on Thursday, suggests that Sudan’s paramilitary forces might have enacted “genocide” against non-Arab ethnic groups in Darfur, a western region ravaged by conflict.

The Rapid Support Forces (RSF), alongside supportive militias, have been accused of undertaking ethnic cleansing, committing crimes against humanity, and violating war laws in their ongoing battle with the Sudanese army, which ignited in April 2023.

This violent conflict has claimed tens of thousands of lives, with U.N. experts estimating up to 15,000 deaths in the town of el-Geneina in West Darfur alone.

The HRW report, spanning 186 pages and titled “‘The Massalit Will Not Come Home’: Ethnic Cleansing and Crimes Against Humanity in el-Geneina, West Darfur, Sudan,” highlights the atrocities in the region.

The document narrates a horrifying “ethnic cleansing campaign targeting the Massalit and other non-Arab communities.”

According to the New York-based NGO, from late April to early November the previous year, the RSF and allied militias, “carried out a deliberate campaign to remove, including by lethal means, ethnic Massalit residents.”

The violence escalated into mass torture, rape, and looting, reaching a crescendo in mid-June with thousands of deaths occurring over several days, before surging again in November.

Local human rights attorneys documented a disturbing pattern of targeted attacks on “significant figures of the Massalit community,” including doctors, defenders of human rights, local chiefs, and governmental officials.

HRW also revealed that the aggressors “meticulously obliterated essential civilian infrastructure,” predominantly in areas inhabited by displaced Massalit populations.

Satellite data unveiled that since June, mainly Massalit sectors in el-Geneina have been “systematically erased, many with bulldozers, barring civilians from returning to their homes,” HRW detailed.

HRW argues that the actions constitute “ethnic cleansing” because they seemingly aim to drive the Massalit away permanently.

The nature of the killings “suggests that the RSF and their cohorts might aim to partially or entirely annihilate the Massalit in West Darfur, a scenario indicative of ongoing or past genocide,” the report stated.

‘Widespread Atrocities’

HRW urged a thorough investigation into genocidal intent and called for targeted sanctions on those accountable. They also recommended the United Nations “expand the current arms embargo on Darfur to encompass all of Sudan.”

The International Criminal Court, which is delving into ethnic-based homicides in Darfur, announced it has “grounds to believe” that both paramilitary and army forces are perpetrating “Rome Statute crimes,” including war crimes, crimes against humanity, and genocide.

In December, the United States declared that both factions in Sudan’s conflict have committed war crimes, accusing the RSF of ethnic cleansing and crimes against humanity.

According to the latest U.N. statistics, over half a million Sudanese have escaped from Darfur, seeking refuge in Chad.

By late October, 75% of those crossing into Chad were from el-Geneina, HRW reported.

Around 400 kilometers (250 miles) east of el-Geneina, in North Darfur, eyes are now on el-Fasher, the only state capital yet to fall under RSF control.

The United States has forewarned of a catastrophe of “epic proportions” if the RSF advances as expected, as residents dread el-Fasher might suffer a calamity akin to el-Geneina.

“As the U.N. Security Council and governments grapple with the impending disaster in el-Fasher, the large-scale atrocities committed in el-Geneina serve as a dire warning of what could transpire without decisive action,” remarked HRW Executive Director Tirana Hassan.