Amnesty: RSF committed crimes against humanity and ethnic cleansing in El Fasher
A new report based on 247 testimonies documents murder, rape, sexual slavery and the deliberate targeting of Zaghawa communities as the RSF has besieged North Darfur's last major city outside its control
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developments
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Human Rights Watch published a separate July 3 report titled 'Sudan: Risk of Imminent Atrocities in and around El Obeid Requires Urgent Action,' documenting RSF forces advancing from all directions, with troop concentrations about 60km east, south and west of the city. HRW found at least 16 civilian and service targets damaged by drone strikes including hospitals, schools and fuel depots; the RSF published an appeal to El Obeid residents on its own channels, language human rights observers note has preceded ground assaults in El Fasher and other sieges. France 24 reported the event as 'UN issues red alert over human rights catastrophe in Sudan's El Obeid.' ↗
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The UN Human Rights Council held an emergency debate on July 3 focused on El Obeid, after a core group of five countries (Germany, Ireland, Netherlands, Norway, UK) requested it June 29. UN human rights chief Volker Turk issued a public 'red alert,' warning that an imminent RSF ground offensive on the city carries 'the risk of serious international crimes.' At least 45 people were killed and 41 injured in 15 drone attacks on El Obeid and surrounding areas between June 6 and June 28, per the UN rights office. An estimated 500,000 civilians remain inside the city; the Eastern Herald reported UAE financial exposure of $1.4 trillion is complicating international pressure on Emirati arms transfers to the RSF. ↗
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The International Rescue Committee warned on July 2 that RSF drones are now targeting fuel depots and water stations in El Obeid, capital of North Kordofan state, and that the pattern mirrors the early stages of the El Fasher siege. The IRC said nearly 2,000 people have fled El Obeid toward White Nile state; evacuation routes risk being cut off as RSF troops advance. The UN Security Council separately raised alarm over RSF troop concentrations around El Obeid. A new humanitarian catastrophe appears to be opening in North Kordofan as El Fasher's fate becomes template for the next offensive. ↗
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The Amnesty report drew coverage across African and Arab outlets, including Africanews, The Africa Report, Arab News, and Middle East Monitor. No US, EU or UK targeted sanctions on the three named commanders were announced as of July 2. The UN Security Council has not tabled an Article 13 referral motion; China and Russia are expected to block any such move. Rights groups note that the Zaghawa community, which spans the Sudan-Chad border, gives the documented ethnic targeting a potential cross-border dimension relevant to both ICC and African Union jurisdiction. ↗
Summary
Amnesty International published "City Under Siege, Children Under Fire" on July 1, documenting Rapid Support Forces crimes in El Fasher, the last major city in North Darfur still outside RSF control, between early 2024 and October 2025. Based on 247 interviews, 208 of them survivors, plus satellite imagery and verified videos, the report concludes the RSF committed murder, torture, rape, sexual slavery, enslavement and forced displacement, and carried out ethnic cleansing targeting the predominantly Zaghawa communities surrounding El Fasher by burning villages and blocking displaced families from returning. Children were deliberately targeted, including through use as fighters and human shields. Amnesty called for an immediate ceasefire, international protection force deployment and referral of senior RSF leaders to the International Criminal Court.
The split
Al Jazeera and African outlets drew the direct parallel to the 2003-2005 Darfur genocide, framing the Amnesty report as confirmation that history is repeating under international inaction. Western and UK media focused on the methodological rigour of the 247-interview database and satellite confirmation, treating it as a credibility landmark for legal proceedings. Gulf-based media largely did not cover the report prominently; UAE state channels, which have supplied the RSF with weapons via the Ethiopian airbridge, were silent. The Sudanese Armed Forces (SAF) welcomed the report but have themselves been accused of indiscriminate aerial bombing of civilian areas.
By the numbers
- 247 people interviewed for the report; 208 survivors and witnesses.
- Crimes documented: murder, torture, rape, sexual slavery, enslavement, forcible displacement, extermination.
- El Fasher: the last major city in North Darfur not under RSF control; besieged since early 2024.
- 4th year of the Sudan civil war, which began in April 2023.
- 28 million people in Sudan facing acute hunger; 14 million displaced, the world's largest displacement crisis.
Why it matters
El Fasher is the effective last redoubt of SAF-aligned civilian governance in Darfur. If the RSF takes it, North Darfur becomes contiguous RSF territory and the humanitarian corridor through the region collapses. The Amnesty report gives ICC prosecutors the most detailed public evidence base yet for crimes-against-humanity charges. It also names the pattern as ongoing, not historical, increasing the pressure on UN Security Council members, particularly those supplying or sheltering the RSF's backers, to act.
What to watch
- UN Security Council response: China and Russia have blocked previous Sudan resolutions.
- ICC prosecutor action on the findings.
- Humanitarian access to El Fasher as the RSF siege tightens.
- Whether Gulf states, particularly the UAE, face intensified pressure over the RSF arms supply.