The United Nations warned of possible crimes against humanity in Sudan’s Darfur region, which has been riven by conflict since 2003 and is now the scene of continuous attacks against civilians based on their ethnicity.
Fighting between the Arab Rizeigat and Masalit tribes has flared for decades, especially in West Darfur’s state capital of Geneina, where Sudanese government forces have persistently failed to contain tensions. More than 500 people have been confirmed dead in Darfur since fighting broke out between Sudan’s army and the paramilitary Rapid Support Forces on April 15.
“There is an emerging pattern of large-scale targeted attacks against civilians based on their ethnic identities, allegedly committed by Arab militias and some armed men in Rapid Support Forces uniform,” Volker Perthes, the U.N.’s special representative for Sudan who was expelled from the country last week, said in a statement. “These reports are deeply worrying and, if verified, could amount to crimes against humanity.”
Negotiations to mediate a cease-fire spearheaded by Saudi Arabia and the U.S. have collapsed and more than 1,000 people have been killed in the North African country, while in excess of a million others have fled their homes.
History of Violence
Conflict first erupted in Darfur in 2003 when rebels took up arms accusing the former leader Omar al-Bashir of neglecting the region, sparking a brutal counterinsurgency campaign. The United Nations estimates about 300,000 people may have died in the region since then.
In recent days, large groups of gunmen, supported by RSF soldiers, again stormed Geneina, looting properties and killing civilians, according to humanitarian workers. Snipers have been deployed and residents are unable to leave their homes.
“We know that the city is under siege and armed men are controlling the road to Chad,” said Sarra Majdoub, a Sudan-based independent conflict analyst. “We don’t have the full picture since the city was plunged into a blackout, but from the stories of those fleeing, there are killings based on ethnicity.”
On April 26, the main hospital was looted and is currently out of service, while the evacuation of patients is currently impossible because of the ongoing fighting, according to the medical charity Médecins Sans Frontières.
Some of the worst violence occurred in May, when 280 people were killed in two days after gunmen stormed the city, setting markets ablaze and targeting civilians, some of whom had taken up arms, the Preliminary Committee of Sudan’s Doctors’ Trade Union has documented.
The RSF in a statement on Twitter on Wednesday urged an end to “tribal fighting” in Darfur. It also called for a committee to be formed by armed groups, local government and civil society to coordinate with its forces and the Sudanese army to reduce the violence and deliver aid.
Sudan’s army didn’t immediately respond to questions on the situation in Darfur.
