UN accuses Sudan’s RSF of genocide in Darfur siege
A UN fact-finding mission has accused Sudan’s Rapid Support Forces of committing acts amounting to genocide during the siege of al-Fashir in North Darfur.
A United Nations fact-finding mission has accused Sudan’s Rapid Support Forces (RSF) of committing acts amounting to genocide during the siege and capture of al-Fashir in North Darfur last year. In a report released on Wednesday, the mission said RSF fighters carried out mass killings, abductions of women and girls, gang rapes and deliberate starvation as part of an intentional campaign against civilians.
Survivors told investigators they were raped in rooms where the bodies of recently killed relatives were still lying. The report also accused the RSF of using starvation as a weapon of war by blocking humanitarian aid and attacking food production systems.
The RSF denied the allegations, describing them as fabricated by its opponents. The findings come as the UN warns of a similar humanitarian crisis in al-Obeid, where reports of summary executions, torture and sexual violence have emerged. The UN urged immediate international action to prevent further atrocities.
The Nigerian stake is clear. Sudan’s conflict has regional implications. The Sahel is already destabilised by jihadist insurgencies, and the collapse of Sudan could create a new front for extremism. Nigerian troops have participated in peacekeeping missions in Darfur in the past, and the country has a strategic interest in preventing the conflict from spreading.
From a Nigerian vantage point, the genocide accusation is a reminder that Africa’s conflicts are not isolated. The RSF’s tactics, including the use of starvation as a weapon of war, echo the tactics used by Boko Haram in Nigeria’s North-east. The international community’s response to Sudan will set a precedent for how it responds to similar crises elsewhere.
This mirrors the 2004 Darfur genocide, when the international community was slow to respond to mass killings. The mechanism then was different, but the result was the same: thousands died while the world debated whether to intervene.
The winners: none. The losers: the people of Darfur, who continue to suffer, and the international community, which has failed to stop the violence.
Bottom Line: The UN says genocide is happening in Darfur. The world is watching. Again.