Geneva, 9 September Civilians in Sudan are being deliberately targeted in the ongoing conflict, with both the Sudanese Armed Forces (SAF) and Rapid Support Forces (RSF) committing large-scale atrocities, including war crimes and crimes against humanity, the Independent International Fact-Finding Mission for Sudan reported Friday.
The report, titled “A War of Atrocities,” details systematic attacks on civilians and the destruction of essential infrastructure such as hospitals, markets, water systems, and displacement camps. The RSF, particularly during the siege of El Fasher, committed murders, torture, sexual violence, forced displacement, and persecution on ethnic, gender, and political grounds. Civilians were deprived of food, medicine, and relief supplies, actions that may amount to extermination.
Chair of the Fact-Finding Mission, Mohamed Chande Othman, said, “Civilians are paying the highest price in this war. Both sides have deliberately targeted them through executions, arbitrary detention, torture, and denial of basic necessities. These are deliberate strategies amounting to war crimes.”
The report documents targeted killings of non-Arab communities in El Fasher and surrounding areas, including the Zaghawa, Fur, Masalit, and Tunjur. In the Zamzam camp in April, 300–1,500 civilians, mostly women and children, were massacred. In Gezira, SAF forces killed dozens and forced residents to flee after recapturing the town in January.
Both parties failed to minimize harm during airstrikes and artillery shelling, leaving towns, hospitals, markets, and camps destroyed or uninhabitable. The conflict has displaced 12.1 million people, with over half the population facing acute food insecurity. Only one in four health facilities remains functional in the worst-affected areas.
Humanitarian aid has been obstructed, convoys attacked, and aid workers targeted; over 84 Sudanese humanitarian workers were killed or detained between April 2023 and April 2025. Survivors also reported arbitrary arrests, torture, sexual and gender-based violence, and forced labor. RSF detention centers were described as “slaughterhouses,” where detainees were beaten, executed, or held for ransom.
Expert Joy Ngozi Ezeilo said, “Behind every story is a shattered family and a displaced community. Women and children bear the greatest burden and deserve justice and reparations.”
The Fact-Finding Mission called for urgent international action, including enforcing the arms embargo, supporting the International Criminal Court, establishing an independent judicial mechanism for Sudan, holding perpetrators accountable, and imposing targeted sanctions.
Mona Rishmawi, another mission member, stressed: “Every day of inaction leaves Sudanese civilians under attack. Accountability is not optional — it is a legal and moral imperative.”
Othman added, “Sudan is facing one of the world’s worst humanitarian crises. The international community has the tools to act. Failure to do so would betray the Sudanese people and the foundations of international law.”
The full report is available here.