UN Report Details Al-Fashir Massacre
University Dormitories Also Targeted in Indiscriminate Gunfire
Guterres: "An Immediate Ceasefire Is Needed"
Calls to Halt Arms Supplies by External Actors
A United Nations report has found that the Rapid Support Forces (RSF), a Sudanese rebel group that has been in a civil war with government forces for three years, killed at least 6,000 people over three days when it seized Al-Fashir, the capital of North Darfur State in western Sudan, in October last year. The UN stated that the atrocities could constitute war crimes as well as crimes against humanity.
The Office of the United Nations High Commissioner for Human Rights (OHCHR) released a 29-page report on its website on the 13th (local time). Titled "They Shot at Us Like Animals," the report is based on interviews with 140 survivors and witnesses of the massacre.
Tawilla camp, where refugees who fled Alpasireu during Sudan's civil war are staying, on the 11th of last month (local time). AFP Yonhap News
According to the report, at least 4,400 people were killed inside the city in the initial phase of the RSF assault on Al-Fashir, and 1,600 others were killed while trying to flee the city. On October 26 last year, the RSF opened fire at a dormitory of Al-Fashir University where 1,000 people had taken shelter, killing about 500 of them, and is believed to have killed more than 600 others, including 50 children, at other university facilities.
Volker T?rk, UN High Commissioner for Human Rights, said, "The RSF and Arab militias are fueling the vicious cycle of violence by committing deliberate acts of violence and yet facing no accountability."
The RSF and its allied Arab militias, known as the Janjaweed, had besieged Al-Fashir, the government forces' last stronghold in the western region, for 18 months before launching a final offensive on October 26 last year and capturing the city. The report said that in addition to the mass killings, the attack involved sexual violence, abductions, and torture, and that in many cases these acts were ethnically motivated. The RSF has not commented on the report. However, it has repeatedly denied allegations of massacres made by various international organizations and civil society groups.
UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres, attending the African Union (AU) summit that opened on the 14th in Addis Ababa, Ethiopia. Xinhua Yonhap News
UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres, according to AFP, urged the warring parties in Sudan to agree to an immediate ceasefire on the 14th, the day after the report was released. Visiting Ethiopia to attend the African Union (AU) summit, Guterres told reporters, "The United Nations has been actively engaging with key actors such as the AU, the Arab League, and the Quad (the security dialogue among the United States, Japan, Australia, and India) to effectively press for an immediate ceasefire," adding, "Above all, we must create the conditions to pressure both parties to the conflict into a ceasefire." He also stressed that foreign actors who are supporting and arming both sides must be stopped.
Since gaining independence in 1956, Sudan has suffered frequent civil wars and political instability. On April 15, 2023, a civil war broke out between government forces and the RSF and has continued to this day. According to the UN and other sources, more than 40,000 people have been killed across Sudan so far in the fighting between the two sides, and the number of refugees has exceeded 12 million.
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