A recent report from Human Rights Watch (HRW) has brought to light disturbing events during the Sudanese civil war, focusing on Darfur. The report reveals horrifying details of a massacre where civilians, including children, were killed while attempting to escape ethnic violence in Darfur last summer.
Witnesses described scenes of horror as children, still alive, were "piled up and shot" by paramilitary forces known as the Rapid Support Forces (RSF) while attempting to escape the regional capital of El Geneina. The testimonies, collected from over 220 individuals, offer chilling accounts of systematic violence against the non-Arab Masalit tribe in West Darfur.
The HRW report, titled "'The Massalit Will Not Come Home': Ethnic Cleansing and Crimes Against Humanity in El-Geneina, West Darfur, Sudan," calls for urgent action from the international community. It urges the United Nations and African Union to impose an arms embargo on Sudan and deploy a mission with a robust police force to protect civilians in Darfur.
The report also identifies individuals responsible for war crimes, including RSF commanders Abdel Rahman Joma’a Barakallah and Mohamed “Hemedti” Hamdan Dagalo. HRW emphasizes the need for accountability and justice for the conflict's victims.
Since April 2023, over 8 million people have been displaced, creating one of the largest humanitarian crises in decades. El Fasher, the last city held by Sudan’s military in Darfur, is now threatened by a potential massacre as RSF forces surround it.
Tirana Hassan, the executive director at Human Rights Watch, said: “As the UN security council and governments wake up to looming disaster in El Fasher, the large-scale atrocities committed in El Geneina should be seen as a reminder of the atrocities that could come in the absence of concerted action.”
Survivors of the violence in El Geneina recounted the horrors they endured, with RSF fighters and allied militias targeting fleeing civilians indiscriminately. The report documents instances of civilians being chased, rounded up, and shot as they attempted to escape the violence. Mass killings, rape, and looting were rampant, leaving thousands dead and hundreds of thousands displaced.
The situation in Darfur remains unresolved, with the RSF and allied militias accused of committing ethnic cleansing and crimes against humanity, while the RSF says it is not involved in what it describes as a "tribal conflict" in Darfur. Calls for further investigations into the possibility of genocide underscore the urgent need for international action to prevent further bloodshed and ensure the protection of civilians in the region.