In a damning report released Wednesday, Amnesty International accused Sudan’s paramilitary Rapid Support Forces (RSF) of committing crimes against humanity and ethnic cleansing during their campaign to take control of el-Fasher from 2024 to 2025.
The report draws attention to war crimes allegedly orchestrated by three senior RSF commanders during the siege of the city. Amnesty International’s Secretary-General, Agnes Callamard, revealed during the report’s launch in Nairobi that the RSF engaged in murder, forced transfer, imprisonment, torture, sexual violence including rape and sexual slavery, enslavement, extermination, and persecution.
“It is a stain on the conscience of humanity,” Callamard stated, urging an immediate cease-fire and the deployment of a United Nations protection force to ensure civilian safety.
Previously, both the United Nations and humanitarian agencies reported over 6,000 deaths during a brutal three-day RSF offensive on el-Fasher in October 2025. U.N. experts at that time noted the assault bore the “hallmarks of genocide.”
Amnesty’s comprehensive investigation highlights systematic attacks on Zaghawa-populated settlements surrounding el-Fasher—an ethnic group resident in western Darfur. The group examined nine videos documenting severe violations: one depicting an RSF commander executing civilians, another showing detainees being tortured, and a third demonstrating orders for prisoners’ torture.
The report disclosed “widespread and deliberate violence against children,” which included killings, abductions, forced recruitment, and rape.
Furthermore, RSF fighters were reported to have incinerated homes even after residents had evacuated. The intent, Amnesty suggested, was to render these areas uninhabitable, fitting the pattern of “ethnic cleansing.”
During the final offensive on el-Fasher, the group reported that “hundreds were executed” as they fled, with many suffering torture or detention. Amnesty interviewed 247 victims and witnesses in North Darfur from early 2024 to October 2025, indicating the scale and repetition of violations suggested senior authorities were aware but failed to intervene.
Amnesty shared its findings with RSF leader Gen. Mohamed Hamdan Dagalo but received no response. Callamard emphasized accountability, advocating for support of existing mechanisms, including the International Criminal Court and U.N.-backed missions, to investigate and prosecute identified commanders.
Sudan, embroiled in civil strife since April 2023 due to tensions between its army and the RSF, has seen at least 59,000 deaths, 13 million displacements, and a humanitarian crisis affecting over 30 million people, according to the U.N.
The report coincides with a U.N. Human Rights Council debate as fears escalate over a potential RSF assault on North Kordofan’s city of el-Obeid following recent intensifying attacks. Amnesty International urges immediate international action to protect civilians in Sudan from further violence.
