The humanitarian catastrophe in El-Fasher, the capital of North Darfur, is worsening as over 177,000 civilians remain under complete siege. Reports indicate thousands of deaths and disappearances, following the Rapid Support Forces (RSF) taking control of the city—evoking the darkest memories of Darfur’s early-2000s atrocities.
According to Sudan’s independent Doctors Syndicate, civilians are trapped under dire conditions. Field teams estimate the death toll in the thousands, highlighting the RSF’s brutal ethnic cleansing campaign.
The RSF reportedly massacred unarmed civilians, with the syndicate stating 2,000 people were killed in the first hours of the RSF entering the city. Victims were burned alive, others were allegedly executed and forced to dig their own graves. Hospitals and pharmacies were looted.
In one of the worst incidents, over 450 patients were executed at the Saudi Hospital, with another 1,200 elderly and injured killed in field clinics.
The syndicate recorded widespread violations, including executions, house-to-house raids, sexual violence, and forcing victims to bury themselves alive.
These acts align with definitions of war crimes and crimes against humanity, and may rise to the level of genocide and ethnic cleansing, as outlined in the Rome Statute of the International Criminal Court.
In just four days, 36,000 people fled El-Fasher, with 2,698 displaced in a single day, according to the International Organization for Migration (IOM). The UN reports over 20,000 deaths and 15 million displaced since the war between the RSF and the Sudanese Armed Forces began in April 2023. One US academic study estimates the death toll to be as high as 130,000.
These crimes blatantly violate international humanitarian law, including the Geneva Conventions, which prohibit targeting civilians and medical infrastructure. The deliberate killing of patients and medical workers is a war crime that cannot be time-barred.
The nature and scale of the violations demand urgent international investigation, accountability, and enforcement of the Responsibility to Protect (R2P) doctrine, especially when the state itself is perpetrating or failing to prevent mass atrocities.
The international community’s silence is not only morally indefensible, but also enables ongoing atrocities and undermines the global legal order.
