Atrocities El Fasher: Survivors detail killings, beatings, and rape in Sudan, Amnesty International calls for accountability and international action.

Survivors of El Fasher in North Darfur have told Amnesty International of mass killings, beatings, and sexual violence carried out by fighters from the Rapid Support Forces (RSF) as the city fell on 26 October.

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Amnesty International researchers interviewed 28 survivors who fled to Tawila and Tina after RSF fighters entered the city.

Witnesses recounted the execution of unarmed men, hostage-taking for ransom, and systematic sexual assault of women and girls.

Many described seeing hundreds of bodies lying in the streets and along main roads out of the city.

Agnès Callamard, Secretary General of Amnesty International, said, “The world must not look away as more details emerge about the RSF’s brutal attack on El Fasher.

These atrocities constitute war crimes, and all those responsible must be held accountable.”

The survivors described how RSF fighters executed civilians indiscriminately.

Ahmed, 21, told how his brother and four other men were shot after declaring themselves civilians.

Khalil, 34, survived only by pretending to be dead after 17 men in his group were executed. Badr, 26, witnessed fighters laughing as they shot elderly men and even killed donkeys during a mass execution.

Women and girls were subjected to horrific sexual violence.

Ibtisam recounted being raped, and her 14-year-old daughter also suffered sexual assault, later falling gravely ill.

Khaltoum, 29, described being held in a makeshift shelter where she and ten other women were raped by armed RSF fighters.

Amnesty International emphasised the role of external actors, particularly the United Arab Emirates, in facilitating the violence.

The organisation called for the UN Human Rights Council and Security Council to provide full investigative support, extend the International Criminal Court referral across Sudan, and enforce the arms embargo to halt further abuses.

The conflict between the RSF and the Sudanese Armed Forces, ongoing since April 2023, has killed tens of thousands and displaced over 12 million people, creating the world’s largest humanitarian crisis.

Amnesty International has documented ethnic targeting of Masalit and other non-Arab communities, alongside widespread sexual violence that may amount to crimes against humanity.

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“These survivors’ stories are a stark reminder of the urgent need for accountability and protection for civilians in Sudan,” Callamard said.