Sudan war: World urged not to ignore ‘gruesome sexual violence’

Issued by the UN human rights office, OHCHR, the report describes how civilians – including many from besieged El Fasher – endured torture and abductions during a three-day offensive by Rapid Support Forces (RSF) on nearby Zamzam camp for displaced persons in April this year.

Highlighting the report’s findings, UN rights chief Volker Türk noted that more than 1,000 civilians had been killed in the Zamzam offensive alone, including 319 who faced summary execution at home, in the main market, or in schools, health facilities and mosques.

“Such deliberate killing of civilians or persons or de combat may constitute the war crime of murder… The world must not sit back. and watch as such cruelty becomes entrenched,” Mr. Türk insisted.

A camp full of terrified people

At the time of the RSF paramilitary attack, Zamzam camp hosted an estimated 500,000 people uprooted by Sudan war, which began in April 2023 between the Sudanese Armed Forces (SAF) and the RSF, following a breakdown in transition to civilian rule.

According to the OHCHR report, the RSF attack “supported by allied Arab militia” lasted from 11 to 13 April; it involved “heavy artillery shelling and ground incursions” which caused large numbers of civilian deaths and displacement.

Previous “relentless attacks” on both El Fasher and surrounding camps had been happening since May 2024, prompting High Commissioner Türk to issue an alert for residents of Abu Shouk and Zamzam camps in September 2024.

“At least 104 people, including 75 women, 26 girls and three boys, most of them from the Zaghawa ethnic tribe were subjected to gruesome sexual violence, including rape and gang rape and sexual slavery,” Mr. Türk said on Thursday in an online video message.

 “Sexual violence appears to have been deliberately used to inflict terror on the community,” he added.

Grim testimony

Testimonies highlighted in the report detailing the summary execution of displaced people describe how RSF fighters targeted civilians including seven elderly men at a mosque and 16 others at a religious school.

“A surviving community leader recounted how two RSF fighters inserted their rifles through small holes in the window of the room where he was hiding with 10 other men and opened fire, killing randomly eight of them,” OHCHR said in a statement. 

“A woman who returned to the camp the day after the deadly assault, in search of her missing 15-year-old son, said, ‘The camp was empty. I saw scattered dead bodies on the roads. Only chicken, donkeys and sheep were wandering around.’ She did not find her son that day.”

The report’s findings are based on UN human rights monitoring, including a field mission to eastern Chad in July this year. Interviews were also conducted with 155 victims and witnesses – including 114 women, three girls and six boys – who had fled Zamzam camp during and after the RSF paramilitary offensive.

UN rights chief Türk has called for an “impartial, thorough and effective investigation into the attack” on Zamzam camp; all those responsible for serious violations of international law must be punished within fair proceedings, he noted.