A series of attacks by Sudanese paramilitary forces in the western region of Darfur raise the possibility of “genocide” against non-Arab ethnic communities, Human Rights Watch said Thursday. The paramilitary Rapid Support Forces (RSF), along with allied militias, have been widely accused of ethnic cleansing, crimes against humanity, and war crimes in their war with the regular army, which began in April 2023. The war has killed tens of thousands, including up to 15,000 in the West Darfur town of El-Geneina, according to UN experts.
The area is the focus of the 186-page HRW report The Massalit Will Not Come Home’: Ethnic Cleansing and Crimes Against Humanity in El-Geneina, West Darfur, Sudan. It describes “an ethnic cleansing campaign against the ethnic Massalit and other non-Arab populations.” From late April until early November of last year, the RSF and allied militias “conducted a systematic campaign to remove, including by killing, ethnic Massalit residents,” according to HRW. The violence peaked in mid-June and surged again in November.
Local human rights lawyers said they had tracked a pattern where fighters targeted “prominent members of the Massalit community,” including doctors, human rights defenders, local leaders, and government officials. HRW added that the attackers “methodically destroyed critical civilian infrastructure” preventing many from returning home. Satellite imagery showed that since June, predominantly Massalit neighborhoods in El-Geneina have been “systematically dismantled, preventing civilians who fled from returning to their homes.”
HRW said the attacks constitute “ethnic cleansing” as they appeared aimed at having them permanently leave the region. The context of the killings further “raises the possibility that the RSF and their allies have the intent to destroy in whole or in part the Massalit in at least West Darfur, which would indicate that genocide has been and/or is being committed there,” it added.
HRW called for an investigation into genocidal intent, targeted sanctions on those responsible, and urged the United Nations to widen the arms embargo on Darfur. The International Criminal Court says it has “grounds to believe” that both the paramilitaries and the army are committing “Rome Statute crimes.” Over half a million Sudanese have fled the violence from Darfur into Chad, with El-Geneina being significantly affected. United States warned of a disaster if expected attack on El-Fasher.
