Updated: 1 November 2025 00:02:17
44 Human Rights Organizations Call for Protection of Civilians in El Fasher and Accountability for RSF Leaders
moatinoon
The International Federation for Human Rights (FIDH), the Sudanese Human Rights Monitor (SHRM), and the African Centre for Justice and Peace Studies (ACJPS) described the fall of El Fasher to the Rapid Support Forces (RSF) as a “new catastrophic escalation in Sudan’s ongoing conflict.”
In a joint statement signed by 44 regional and international human rights organizations, the groups affirmed that there is evidence of ethnic cleansing and crimes against humanity committed by the RSF. The statement noted that the city had been under an 18-month siege, leaving hundreds of thousands of civilians — half of them children — without food, medicine, or clean water.
The statement also reported massacres committed by RSF forces in Bara, North Kordofan, between 25 and 27 October, following the army’s withdrawal, amid a total communications blackout that made it impossible to determine the full scale of the atrocities.
Mousa Ali, Executive Director of the ACJPS, said that “the fall of El Fasher and the recent massacre in Bara represent a catastrophic failure of the international community to protect civilians and prevent mass atrocities,” adding that “the world must take concrete action, not issue another round of expressions of concern.”
Magdi Elnaim, Executive Director of the SHRM, stated that “what is happening in El Fasher is not just a humanitarian tragedy, but a systematic campaign of terror targeting civilians. The RSF has used starvation as a weapon of war, deliberately destroyed civilian infrastructure, and committed widespread atrocities including executions and sexual violence.”
The organizations called for an immediate ceasefire, sanctions against RSF leaders, and the full implementation of UN Security Council Resolution 2736 (2024), which demands the lifting of the siege on El Fasher, an end to attacks on civilians and humanitarian workers, and the opening of safe humanitarian corridors for fleeing civilians. They also urged support for the International Criminal Court’s investigations into crimes committed in Sudan and urgent funding for relief operations and civil society organizations working on the ground.
The statement warned that continued international silence “will be interpreted as a green light for wider massacres,” reminding that impunity for atrocities in Geneina, Zalingei, Al-Jazira, and Khartoum paved the way for what is now happening in El Fasher and Bara.
