UN Mission on El-Fasher, Sudan: RSF Crimes Bear Genocide Hallmarks

A United Nations-mandated investigation has concluded that crimes committed by Rapid Support Forces (RSF) in and around el-Fasher, Sudan display the defining features of genocidal violence, placing Darfur once again at the center of international legal scrutiny.

Siege Warfare And Civilian Collapse

The Independent International Fact-Finding Mission on the Sudan said RSF forces carried out “a coordinated campaign of destruction” following an 18-month siege of el-Fasher.

The city, long regarded as the Sudanese army’s final stronghold in Darfur, fell to the RSF in late October 2025, marking a pivotal shift in the conflict that began in April 2023.

Mission chair Mohamed Chande Othman stated that “the scale, coordination, and public endorsement” of RSF operations showed that crimes were not isolated battlefield violations. Instead, he said they “formed part of a planned and organised operation” bearing “the defining characteristics of genocide.”

Genocide Threshold And Legal Criteria

Under the 1948 Convention on the Prevention and Punishment of the Crime of Genocide, genocidal acts include killing members of a protected group, causing serious bodily or mental harm, and deliberately inflicting conditions calculated to bring about physical destruction. The mission said evidence indicated that at least three of the five criteria were met.

Investigators cited patterns of ethnically targeted killings, sexual violence, and destruction directed at non-Arab communities, particularly the Zaghawa and Fur.

Survivors described RSF fighters issuing “explicit threats to ‘clean’ the city,” with testimony including the statement: “If we find Zaghawa, we will kill them all.”

Casualty Figures And Satellite Evidence

Multiple international assessments underscore the scale of violence. In February, the UN human rights office said RSF forces committed war crimes in el-Fasher after the October 2025 siege, with over 6,000 killed in the first three days.

Verified footage and satellite imagery cited in a November investigation documented mass executions, with over 2,000 civilians killed during the city’s fall.

Satellite analysis published on December 5 described el-Fasher as a “slaughterhouse.”

British lawmakers were briefed that at least 60,000 people were believed killed and up to 150,000 residents missing after the RSF seized the city on 26 October 2025.

Imagery revealed mass graves, large piles of bodies, and suspected cremation sites.

Sexual Violence And Social Destruction

The UN mission documented widespread sexual violence against women and girls aged seven to 70, including pregnant women. Survivors reported rape, whipping, beatings, and forced nudity. Witness accounts described civilians “gunned down in the streets,” while “bodies of men, women and children filled the roads.”

UN Relief Chief Tom Fletcher had also described the situation in El Fasher after his visit to Sudan in November as “a horror show”, hailing the city as the “epicenter of human suffering”, calling for the Security Council and Member States to be more clear on the need for humanitarian access, protection of civilians & accountability.

Conflict Roots And Regional Trauma

The RSF traces its origins to the Janjaweed militias active during the Darfur war that began in 2003, a conflict linked to an estimated 300,000 deaths from violence, famine, and disease. The UAE-linked militia sustains combat power through a quantified mercenary system combining regional cross boarder recruits.

Displacement pressures continue to mount. Satellite data cited on December 31 showed camps in northern Sudan expanding rapidly as tens of thousands fled el-Fasher, highlighting the widening humanitarian emergency as the conflict enters its third year.