UN report exposes civilian atrocities in Sudan’s civil war
TOPSHOT - Sudanese refugees who have fled from the war in Sudan get off a truck loaded with families arriving at a Transit Centre for refugees in Renk, on February 13, 2024.More than 550,000 people have now fled from the war in Sudan to South Sudan since the conflict exploded in April 2023, according to the United Nations. South Sudan, that has itself recently come out of decades of war, was facing a dire humanitarian situation before the war in Sudan erupted and it is feared to not have the resources to host displaced people. The war-torn country of Sudan is currently ravaged by internal fighting between the Sudanese Army and the paramilitary Rapid Support Forces (RSF). (Photo by LUIS TATO / AFP) (Photo by LUIS TATO/AFP via Getty Images)
As Sudan’s brutal civil war drags on, unchecked civilian violence has created one of the largest human rights catastrophes of the 21st century. To address this, a new UN report was released documenting atrocities enacted by both Sudan’s military and paramilitary Rapid Support Forces (RSF), reports The National on April 29th.
The 42-page document, which followed a conference in London, outlines how Sudan’s Armed Forces (SAF) resorted to indiscriminate aerial bombing, particularly in El Fasher, and partnered with newly recruited militias to launch ground offensives in strategically important areas.
Meanwhile, the RSF was accused of consolidating its control over Darfur in 2024 through “targeted attacks on internally displaced persons, committing widespread acts of conflict-related sexual violence, inciting violence among communities to claim historically contested territories and detaining individuals perceived as aligned with the Sudanese Armed Forces”.
The conflict erupted in April 2023, when a power struggle between the formerly allied SAF and RSF spiraled into war. Since then, estimates say tens of thousands of people have been killed, and over 13 million have been displaced, with over 470,000 people displaced from El Fasher alone.
Countless more have been “subjected to arbitrary arrests, sexual violence, and targeted killings” with both factions exacerbating conditions by blocking aid to areas facing acute food shortages.
The atrocities underway echo the Darfur genocide two decades ago, only this time the international community has been largely silent, the impunity allowing the violence to go unchecked. The result has not only been an unprecedented famine but also Sudan’s fragmentation, enormous refugee flows, and instability across the region.
The UAE, one of Sudan’s top humanitarian aid donors, has repeatedly expressed concerns of regional spillover and how this could impact maritime security in the Red Sea. In an interview with the National, a senior UAE official drew parallels between the Houthis in Yemen, who hold the Hodeidah port, and Sudan’s military’s control of Port Sudan, warning of a “significant global threat to international maritime security.”
The National, Maghrebi
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