“The scale, coordination and public support of the operation by senior RSF leadership demonstrate that the crimes committed in and around El Fasher were not random wartime excesses,‘ said Mohamed Chande Othman, Chair of the mission.
“They were part of a planned and organized operation that exhibits the defining characteristics of genocide.”
‘Features of genocide in El Fasher’
Key elements cited by the fact-finding mission
- A 18 months of wins that “deliberately imposed living conditions” by depriving them of food, water, medical care and humanitarian assistance.
- A pattern of identity-based targeting linked to ethnicity, gender and perceived political affiliation.
- Documented accusations of mass murderswidespread rape and other sexual violence, arbitrary detention, torture and cruel treatment, extortion and enforced disappearances.
- Reported perpetrator rhetoric that explicitly calls for elimination of non-Arab communities, cited as evidence of intent.
- A warning that, in the absence of prevention and responsibility, the The risk of further genocidal acts remains ‘severe and persistent’.
Read more about the fact-finding mission here.
500 days of victories
The findings focus on events in and around El Fasher, the capital of North Darfur, during the RSF’s takeover in late October 2025, after what the mission described as an 18-month siege that gradually cut off civilians from food, water, medical supplies and humanitarian aid.
The report said the siege ‘systematically weakened the targeted population through starvation, deprivation, trauma and confinement’ leaving many unable to flee when the attack came.
The The conflict in Sudan broke out on April 15, 2023when fighting broke out between the Sudanese Armed Forces (SAF) and their former allies – the paramilitary RSF. The war has since spread across large parts of the country, with civilians repeatedly bearing the brunt of urban warfare, shifting frontlines and the collapse of basic services.
That’s what the fact-finding mission said behavior in El Fasher was “an exacerbation of previous patterns” of attacks about other non-Arab communities elsewhere in Sudan,”but on a much deadlier scale.”
Genocidal intentions ‘the reasonable inference’
Genocidal intent, the mission said, was “the only reasonable inference” from the RSF’s “systematic pattern of ethnically targeted killings, sexual violence, destruction and public statements explicitly calling for the elimination of non-Arab communities.”
Survivors quoted RSF fighters as saying: “Is there anyone Zaghawa among you? If we find Zaghawa, we will kill them all”; and “We want to eliminate everything black from Darfur.”
“The amount of evidence we have collected – including the prolonged siege, famine and denial of humanitarian aid, followed by mass killings, rape, torture and enforced disappearances, systematic humiliation and self-declarations by the perpetrators – leaves only one reasonable conclusion,” the mission said. member Mona Rishmawi.
“The RSF acted with the intention of destroying all or part of the Zaghawa and Fur communities in El Fasher. These are the hallmarks of genocide,she added.
The Zaghawa and Fur are among the largest non-Arab ethnic communities in Sudan’s western Darfur region. Both groups have faced discrimination in the past and were heavily targeted during previous waves of violence in Darfur in the early 2000s. Many families in and around El Fasher had been displaced several times before the current conflict.
UNAMID/Albert González Farran
An urban landscape in Darfur, Sudan. (file photo)
Despite many warnings, no action
The report describes identity-based targeting linked to ethnicity, gender and perceived political affiliation as a central part of the operation, including the selective targeting of Zaghawa and Fur women and girls during sexual violence, while women perceived as Arab were often spared.
The mission also pointed to repeated warnings and “clearly identified atrocity risk indicators” ahead of the takeover, including international calls from mid-2024 to end the siege and protect civilians. “Despite these warnings, no party has taken effective measures to protect the civilian population.it said.
With the conflict spreading to other regions, including Kordofan, the mission warned that urgent civil protection is needed “now more than ever”. Joy Ngozi Ezeilo, another mission membersaid the behavior at El Fasher was “an acute manifestation of patterns consistent with genocidal violence.”
Hold perpetrators accountable
In the absence of effective prevention and accountability, the mission assessed that the “The risk of further genocidal acts remains serious and persistent.”
“Perpetrators at all levels of authority must be held accountable,” Mr Othman said. “Where evidence points to genocide, the international community has a greater obligation to prevent, protect and ensure that justice is done.”
The fact-finding mission was established by the UN Council for Human Rights in October 2023 and was tasked to investigate alleged human rights violations and violations of international humanitarian law in the conflict, including identifying – where possible – those responsible.
The report will be presented to the Human Rights Council on February 26, 2026.
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