Sudan’s western Darfur region is witnessing genocide, exterminating the Masalit ethnic minority and other non-Arab communities. This is stated in a report published on Thursday by human rights organization Human Rights Watch (HRW). The human rights organization spoke to more than 220 eyewitnesses and examined 120 photos and videos of the events to prove the genocide.
Since the conflict between the Sudanese army and the country’s paramilitary group Rapid Support Forces (RSF) — which began in April 2023 — thousands of people have been killed and more than half a million people have been displaced. “Governments, the African Union and the United Nations must act now to protect citizens,” said the HRW director.
According to HRW, it is abundantly clear that RSF and other allied militias want to permanently drive the Masalit people and other non-Arab communities out of the region. For example, HRW says that the videos show children being shot dead and people running for their lives. This would, among other things, be evidence of ethnic cleansing. The Sudanese army is also said to be guilty of murdering Arab civilians and unnecessarily destroying civilian objects, HRW said.
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Systematic violence
The perpetrators of RSF committed serious crimes, such as murder, torture, assault and looting. Schools, infrastructure and houses were razed to the ground. Women and girls were also raped and subjected to other forms of sexual violence.
HRW demands an urgent response from the international community to prevent further increases in systematic violence. HRW also believes that the United Nations and the African Union should work together as quickly as possible to, among other things, extend the arms embargo against Darfur to the whole of Sudan. The International Criminal Court is currently investigating the genocide in Sudan.
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