International scrutiny of Sudan’s war intensified on Wednesday as a global rights watchdog accused the paramilitary Rapid Support Forces of unleashing a series of war crimes during their assault this year on Zamzam, the largest displacement camp in Darfur. Amnesty International’s latest findings depict a camp already weakened by famine and then struck by days of killings, destruction and terror.
According to the report, RSF fighters swept into Zamzam in April while tightening their siege on el-Fasher, the North Darfur capital. The April raid formed part of the broader battle for the city, which later fell to the RSF in October. That capture was followed by what monitors described as killings, sexual violence and other abuses against civilians.
Amnesty investigators say the operation in Zamzam was marked by the murder of civilians, hostage taking and the levelling of services that kept the camp alive, including mosques, schools and clinics. They argue these acts require war crimes investigations. “The RSF’s horrific and deliberate assault on desperate, hungry civilians in Zamzam camp laid bare once again its alarming disregard for human life,” said Agnès Callamard, the organisation’s secretary-general.
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The report builds on similar assessments by other rights groups that have documented atrocities throughout Sudan’s thirty-month conflict. Evidence has emerged of mass rapes, executions and attacks on towns across Darfur. The Sudanese military has also been accused of grave violations.
The war began in April 2023 when a power struggle between the military and the RSF exploded into nationwide violence. The conflict has left around 40,000 people dead, though aid groups believe the real toll is far higher. More than 14 million people have been uprooted, making it the world’s worst humanitarian disaster, and areas such as Zamzam have experienced famine conditions.
“This was not an isolated attack, but part of a sustained campaign against villages and camps for internally displaced persons,” Callamard added.
The RSF has not publicly addressed the report. After the April attack, however, the group insisted that Zamzam was being used as a base by the army and allied militias, and denied targeting civilians. Amnesty stated that the RSF did not answer its own requests for comment either.
Survivors and aid workers who fled the camp told The Associated Press in May that RSF units killed people in the streets, tortured others and carried out rapes and sexual assaults. Large portions of the camp, once home to half a million people, were burned. The assault on April 11 left Zamzam almost entirely abandoned.
Amnesty says at least 47 of those killed were people attempting to flee the gunfire or hiding in a mosque, a clinic or nearby houses. “Civilians were ruthlessly attacked, killed, robbed of items critical to their survival and livelihood, and left without recourse to justice, while grieving the loss of their loved ones,” Callamard said.
Testimonies also describe shelling of crowded neighborhoods between April 11 and 12, including a strike that hit near a mosque as a wedding was underway. One man told Amnesty that RSF fighters stormed a compound and shot his elderly brother and his nephew. “No-one is concerned with our situation,” he said.
A woman who volunteered with humanitarian groups recounted RSF fighters driving through her area firing at random. “One (RSF fighter) will stand up through a small roof and just shoot around and shoot anyone in the street,” she said.
Amnesty again pointed to the United Arab Emirates for what it says is the country’s role in providing support to the RSF. Callamard told AP that Amnesty has documented instances where the UAE continued to back the group despite knowing it “is committing war crimes.” She urged a halt to arms transfers to the Emirates, stating, “The arms embargo and focusing and denouncing the role of the UAE at the moment is absolutely key to bringing some kind of small respite to the population.” The UAE denies supplying weapons to the RSF.
The RSF emerged from the Janjaweed militias, accused of carrying out brutal attacks in Darfur in the early 2000s that killed hundreds of thousands and displaced millions. Former President Omar al-Bashir was charged by the International Criminal Court in 2009 for genocide and war crimes over those atrocities.
Zamzam camp was set up in 2004 for people fleeing Janjaweed attacks and grew into a sprawling settlement south of el-Fasher, stretching roughly eight kilometres in length and three kilometres in width.
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U.N. chief António Guterres has described the crimes committed in el-Fasher as “horrendous” and demanded accountability. The United States has accused the RSF of committing genocide in Darfur, and the International Criminal Court is examining possible war crimes linked to the conflict.
