As clashes and confrontations continue in Sudan since April between the Rapid Support Forces led by Mohamed Hamdan Dagalo and the army led by Abdel Fattah al-Burhan, United Nations experts have raised new alarms. They indicated in a recent report submitted to the Security Council that the Rapid Support Forces committed extensive ethnic killings and rapes during their control over a significant part of West Darfur. The report paints a horrific picture of what occurred against Africans in Darfur.
The experts detailed in their 47-page report how the Rapid Support Forces managed to control four of the five Darfur states through complex financial networks involving dozens of companies, according to the Associated Press. They emphasized that Darfur is experiencing the worst violence since 2005. They confirmed that the ongoing conflict has caused a widespread humanitarian crisis, resulting in the displacement of nearly 6.8 million people, 5.4 million within the country and 1.4 million fleeing to other countries, including around 555,000 to neighboring Chad.
The experts stated that the Rapid Support Forces and their affiliated militias targeted locations in Darfur where displaced persons found shelter, residential areas, and medical facilities. Sudan descended into chaos in mid-April when the long-standing tensions between the army and the Rapid Support Forces erupted into street battles in the capital, Khartoum. The fighting then spread to other parts of the country but took on an ethnic dimension in the Darfur region, with attacks launched by the Rapid Support Forces on African civilians, particularly the Massalit tribe.
This has resurrected painful memories from a decade ago when that state experienced genocide and war crimes committed by the Janjaweed (Arab militias) against populations classified as Central or East African. This legacy appears to have returned, as ICC Prosecutor Karim Khan stated in late January 2024 that there are reasons to believe both sides committed potential war crimes, crimes against humanity, or genocide in Darfur.
However, the Rapid Support Forces have consistently denied these allegations, repeatedly asserting their readiness to investigate any violations committed by some of their members.
