The paramilitary group Rapid Support Forces (RSF) committed crimes against humanity and ethnic cleansing during its campaign to seize El Fasher, the capital of Sudan’s North Darfur State, according to a major new report released Wednesday by Amnesty International. The human rights organization is now calling for an immediate ceasefire and the urgent deployment of an international force to protect civilians.
“The war in Sudan is a war on civilians. The world was warned of the horrors that civilians in El Fasher confronted as the RSF laid siege to the city. It is a stain on the conscience of humanity,” said Agnès Callamard, Amnesty International’s Secretary General.
Despite repeated warnings by the United Nations, humanitarian organizations, and human rights groups, the atrocities were not prevented, Amnesty International said.
The organization's report documents how, between early 2024 and October 2025, civilians in and around El Fasher were killed, injured, beaten, tortured, and detained as the RSF fought the Sudanese Armed Forces (SAF) and allied Joint Forces in a war that devastated North Darfur.
According to the rights group, the RSF’s crimes included murder, forcible transfer, imprisonment, torture, rape, sexual slavery, other forms of sexual violence, enslavement, extermination, and persecution.
Hundreds of thousands of children have been displaced, many of them repeatedly risking death or injury during attacks or while fleeing. Countless children have been orphaned. People with disabilities and the elderly have faced extreme risks, including targeted attacks, abandonment, and exclusion from essential assistance.
Throughout the assaults in North Darfur, Amnesty International found that the RSF routinely used terms such as "falangay," which indicates slavery or servitude, when attacking civilians of non-Arab ethnicity. After analyzing the evidence gathered during the investigation, the organization concluded that these acts amounted to persecution based on ethnic identity.
The human rights organization believes that the crimes documented in the report, as well as other suspected crimes under investigation, may be considered genocide. Its investigation into these atrocities remains ongoing.
"Children were not collateral damage of this violence – often, they were deliberately targeted and have suffered immensely. They have been killed, injured, raped, abducted, and forcibly recruited on a massive scale," said the Secretary General of Amnesty International.
She stressed that the international community must move beyond statements of concern and take concrete steps to protect civilians and break the cycle of impunity.
"A nationwide ceasefire is immediately needed. An independent and adequately resourced international force must be deployed to Sudan to protect civilians against crimes by all parties to the conflict," Callamard said.
“Without urgent action from the international community, attacks on civilians – and the immense suffering and trauma being inflicted on children – will continue unhindered.”
For the report, Amnesty International interviewed hundreds of people, including survivors of conflict-related human rights abuses. The report also contains an analysis of open sources, including videos and an in-depth examination of satellite imagery from North Darfur.
As of November 2023, the RSF controlled four out of five state capitals in the Darfur region. El Fasher, the capital of North Darfur, was the lone holdout. Repeated warnings were issued about the horrors that civilians in El Fasher would face as the RSF laid siege to the city.
Beginning in 2024, the RSF systematically attacked villages, towns, and displacement camps surrounding El Fasher. They targeted residents with violence and pillaging and burned civilian infrastructure.
Many of the communities in El Fasher and the surrounding area were predominantly Zaghawa. During the attacks, RSF fighters burned civilian homes long after residents had fled, suggesting an intent to render the areas uninhabitable.
Amnesty International concluded that these actions, combined with the RSF’s continued control of the area, which prevents displaced populations from returning, constitute ethnic cleansing of the Zaghawa people from areas near El Fasher.
On October 26, 2025, the RSF launched its final offensive against El Fasher. When civilians attempted to flee, they encountered a 57-kilometer network of berms. A massacre followed, with hundreds of civilians executed and many others tortured or detained.
“Sudan has been reeling from the impact of humanitarian funding cuts, which deepened an already catastrophic human rights crisis for communities that have lost everything. All of Sudan’s international partners must ensure that adequate aid reaches refugees and displaced persons, including child-focused services, to help quell the crisis,” Callamard said.
“It also requires strengthening accountability by ensuring sufficient support for all existing accountability mechanisms for Sudan, including the International Criminal Court, and UN and African Union-backed fact-finding missions. Commanders identified in this report should be investigated and, where there is sufficient admissible evidence, prosecuted.”
Additionally, Amnesty repeated its call for all countries to immediately stop providing arms and ammunition to any party involved in the war in Sudan.
“In particular, all countries must stop providing the UAE [United Arab Emirates] – the RSF’s chief backer – with any arms until it can be brought into compliance with the UN embargo. The UN Security Council must also expand the existing arms embargo on Darfur to the rest of the country,” the rights group said.
The report comes as high-ranking UN officials warn that new atrocities loom in Sudan’s Kordofan region following reports of a significant troop buildup by the RSF and allied forces around El Obeid, the capital of North Kordofan State. The state has also seen intensified drone strikes and artillery shelling.
Imminent RSF offensive pushes North Kordofan toward humanitarian catastrophe
The UN has issued multiple warnings that the offensive could result in the commission of additional serious international crimes, further exacerbating the already catastrophic impact on civilians. Humanitarian organizations report that escalating RSF drone strikes on El Obeid are killing civilians and cutting off access to food, water, and fuel. These strikes are likely paving the way for a ground offensive that would put hundreds of thousands of people at grave risk.
The advances around El Obeid reflect patterns seen in El Fasher, where encirclement was followed by widespread attacks on civilians and civilian infrastructure, which left hospitals and relief organizations unable to meet urgent needs.
On Tuesday, UN relief chief Tom Fletcher again sounded the alarm about the escalating violence and the rapidly deteriorating humanitarian situation in Sudan's Kordofan region. This follows earlier alerts by UN Secretary-General António Guterres and UN High Commissioner for Human Rights Volker Türk.
“We cannot allow El Obeid to become another El Fasher,” Fletcher said.
“Intensifying drone attacks are killing civilians across the region, and the risk of deeper human suffering is rising. Hundreds of thousands of civilians are in El Obeid, including many displaced by fighting elsewhere.”
The UN relief chief warned that drone strikes are disrupting access to essential drinking water and electricity. As the rainy season approaches, access to safe water becomes critical in order to reduce the risk of cholera and other deadly waterborne diseases.
He called for an immediate end to attacks on populated areas and critical civilian infrastructure, including drone strikes. He noted that civilians who wish to leave El Obeid must be able to do so safely.
“Whether they leave or remain, they must be protected and have access to essentials for survival”, Fletcher said.
“Humanitarian workers must be able to move safely and without impediment to reach people in need.”
He again reminded the warring parties of their clear obligations under international humanitarian law to protect civilians, including humanitarian workers, and to facilitate rapid, unhindered humanitarian relief.
“Too often in this brutal war, clear warnings have been ignored. Civilians have paid the price. The international community must make itself heard. We cannot say we were not warned,” he said.
El Obeid, the capital of North Kordofan State, is a vital hub for relief operations across the region. However, its inhabitants have endured siege-like conditions for over 18 months. Control of the town and the surrounding area has been highly contested, with the frontlines repeatedly shifting between the SAF and the RSF.
The threatened assault on the city comes amid an unprecedented nationwide emergency. Due to the war that began in April 2023, an estimated 33.7 million people — nearly two-thirds of Sudan's population, including over 20 million children — currently require humanitarian assistance and protection.
Further information
Full text: Sudan: City Under Siege, Children Under Fire: Rapid Support Forces’ Crimes Against Humanity in North Darfur, Amnesty International, report, AFR 54/1116/2026, released on July 1, 2026
https://www.amnesty.org/en/documents/afr54/1116/2026/en/