Amnesty International published a report on 1 July 2026 concluding that Sudan's Rapid Support Forces committed crimes against humanity and ethnic cleansing during the siege and seizure of El Fasher, the capital of North Darfur [1][2][4]. The investigation, titled "City Under Siege, Children Under Fire," documented at least eight of the eleven acts constituting crimes against humanity as defined by the International Criminal Court — including murder, extermination, torture, rape, sexual slavery, enslavement, forcible transfer, and persecution — and stated that the evidence gathered "may be relevant to the crime of genocide" [2][6][8]. Amnesty International Secretary General Agnès Callamard said the findings represented "a stain on the conscience of humanity" and that "the war in Sudan is a war on civilians" [1][4].
The report found that non-Arab communities, particularly the Zaghawa ethnic group, were deliberately targeted during the RSF's campaign, with fighters using ethnic slurs and references to slavery during attacks [5]. Amnesty International determined that the RSF's destruction of towns and villages populated by non-Arab ethnic groups, including Abu Zerega, and the burning of homes after residents fled to prevent their return, was consistent with ethnic cleansing [4][5]. The organization documented the crime against humanity of persecution on the basis of ethnicity [4]. A separate UN Independent International Fact-Finding Mission for Sudan had earlier concluded that RSF actions in El Fasher showed "hallmarks of genocide," including at least three underlying acts of genocide [19][22].
Survivor testimony formed a central pillar of the investigation. A 17-year-old boy attacked in Abu Zerega told the BBC: "They tied me up and beat me with sticks and the back of an AK-47. Then one of them approached on a camel and… just shot me in the leg" [2]. Eight of his cousins, including four boys aged 11 to 17, were killed in the same attack [2]. RFI reported the account of Yagoub, also 17, who was captured and tortured when his village was attacked in December 2024; he recounted that "l'un d'entre eux a dit : c'est un fils de 'falangayat' et il m'a tiré dessus" (one of them said: he is a son of 'falangayat' and he shot me) [6]. A 13-year-old girl abducted and repeatedly raped by RSF fighters told investigators: "Ils disaient qu'ils continueraient jusqu'à changer mon ADN" (They said they would continue until they changed my DNA) [6].
Detainees held at the Mina al-Bari detention centre described being confined in shipping containers. One man recounted: "My body was [drying out] completely, other people as well as myself lost consciousness. [The RSF] thought we had died, so they just threw us out of the container. After a while, they realized we were still alive. They tortured us again and took us [back] inside the container" [5]. Janine Morna, the report's author, stated that children suffered each of the documented violations, with girls subjected to rape and sexual violence and boys forcibly recruited to fight or killed during flight because they were suspected of belonging to the Sudanese army [6]. Morna also reported that mothers gave salt water to their children to replace breast milk during the siege [6].
Amnesty International named three RSF commanders it said bore individual criminal responsibility: Al-Fateh Abdullah Idris, known as "Abu Lulu"; Major General Gedo Hamdan Ahmed Mohamed, known as "Abu Shok"; and Lieutenant Colonel Abbas Khater Bakhit [3][4]. The organization stated it had verified 19 videos showing a large massacre near a berm set up around the city, nine of which showed Abu Lulu executing captives in civilian clothing [3]. The RSF denied claims that Abu Lulu had been released and was leading troops again [3].
The RSF leadership has acknowledged that some violations occurred and said it was investigating them, but insisted the scale of the atrocities was being exaggerated [2][11]. The RSF did not substantively respond to a letter Amnesty International sent to RSF leader Mohamed Hamdan Dagalo on 10 June 2026, and did not comment on the report itself [1][10][16].
Agnès Callamard called for "an immediate nationwide ceasefire" and "an independent and adequately resourced international force" to be deployed to Sudan, stating that "the international community must move beyond statements of concern and take concrete steps to protect civilians, breaking the cycle of impunity" [1][4]. Amnesty International also urged all countries to halt arms supplies to parties in the conflict, specifically calling on governments to stop providing arms to the United Arab Emirates until it complied with the UN embargo, and calling on the UN Security Council to expand the existing Darfur arms embargo to all of Sudan [1][5]. The African Union Peace and Security Council had expressed concern over the humanitarian situation in El Fasher and condemned RSF violations in a February 2026 communiqué, though it did not announce a specific civilian protection force [17]. Médecins Sans Frontières separately warned of ongoing mass atrocities in El Fasher and called for unrestricted humanitarian access [18].
The geopolitical dimension of the conflict drew attention from rights groups. A coalition including the Raoul Wallenberg Centre for Human Rights submitted a communication to the International Criminal Court requesting an investigation of senior officials from the UAE and Sudan's neighboring countries for allegedly aiding and abetting atrocity crimes in Darfur [20][5]. Amnesty International had previously documented advanced Chinese-made weapons re-exported by the UAE in apparent violation of the UN arms embargo on Darfur [21]. Sudan's ambassador to the United States, Mohamed Abdalla Idris, called on the Trump administration to designate the RSF a terrorist organization, stating: "Boko Haram was designated. Al-Qaeda was designated. IS was designated… why not the Janjaweed? What the Janjaweed are doing is far even worse than what some of those organisations have done" [5].
UN officials warned that the pattern documented in El Fasher risked replication elsewhere. UN spokesperson Stéphane Dujarric reported that drone strikes by RSF fighters besieging El Obeid in North Kordofan had damaged schools, a site housing internally displaced people, and fuel infrastructure, putting approximately half a million civilians at risk [7]. UN High Commissioner for Human Rights Volker Türk expressed concern about the RSF's buildup near El Obeid, warning of a high risk of summary executions, abduction, and arbitrary detention [7]. Five European states — Germany, Ireland, the Netherlands, Norway, and the United Kingdom — requested an urgent debate at the UN Human Rights Council, scheduled for later in the week [7].