Amnesty International has made public this Thursday a new report in which it warns that the population of the Sudanese city of El Fasher, capital of North Darfur and taken about a year ago by the Rapid Support Forces (RSF), continues to suffer killings, arbitrary detentions, and torture at the hands of these paramilitaries, in addition to facing very restricted access to humanitarian aid.
"The civilian population of El Fasher continues to suffer detentions, torture, and limited access to humanitarian aid a year after the RSF captured the city and committed acts of brutality against the civilian population," said the NGO, which stated that residents who recently managed to escape from the city have reported that schools have been converted into detention centers and that the paramilitaries controlled their movements.
Currently, fewer than 70,000 inhabitants remain in El Fasher, far from the around one million people who lived there before the start of the civil war in April 2023, according to humanitarian organizations. These entities emphasize that the arrival of aid remains extremely limited and that both humanitarian workers and civilians live under constant surveillance, with the permanent risk of being arrested without guarantees.
"The RSF's claims that El Fasher is safe for the civilian population to return after the terrible massacres a year ago could not be further from the truth," emphasized the Secretary General of Amnesty International, Agnès Callamard, who pointed out that over the city "today looms an atmosphere of widespread fear." "Men and women live under the constant surveillance of the RSF and with the permanent threat of being victims of detention, torture, and homicide," she added.
Callamard also criticized the lack of effective reaction from the international community: "A year after the fall of El Fasher into the hands of the RSF, the international community has not taken the necessary measures to address the desperate situation faced by the civilian population while the conflict wreaks havoc. There has been little accountability for the abuses committed in North Darfur," she lamented, before stressing that "the steps to achieve a ceasefire have been tepid" and that the NGO "is not aware of any diplomatic initiative aimed at establishing an international force that significantly protects the civilian population."
The head of Amnesty has directly pointed to the United Arab Emirates (UAE) for its support of the RSF and lamented that the governments "that have the necessary influence" over the situation "have mostly refrained from pointing out and denouncing their role or holding them accountable." "Without a ceasefire, accountability, and a protection force, the civilian population will continue to suffer in El Fasher and throughout Sudan," she reiterated.
The general director of the organization has also emphasized that "the Sudanese Armed Forces systematically oppose the expansion of the arms embargo and a ceasefire, as they continue to believe that a military 'solution' to the conflict is still possible, sidelining the suffering of the Sudanese people," since Khartoum rejects any dialogue that does not include the disarmament and withdrawal of the paramilitaries from the areas under its control.
Abuses, torture, and mass detentions
The latest report on El Fasher is based on interviews conducted in August and September with 25 people —19 residents and six humanitarian workers— following a document released in July in which Amnesty accused the RSF of crimes against humanity and ethnic cleansing during its offensive against the city, which was under a year-and-a-half siege and later the scene of massacres.
According to the NGO, 17 of the interviewees were arrested by the RSF during the takeover of the city or when they returned to their homes to retrieve belongings or locate family members. Many of them remained in custody for months, and several witnesses noted that members of communities such as the Zaghawa and the Masalit were detained more frequently and suffered more abuses.
The majority of the men were transferred to prisons or detention centers, where they witnessed illegal executions, suffered torture and other ill-treatment, and received minimal rations of food and water, according to Amnesty. The organization specifies that these individuals only regained their freedom when their families paid the ransoms demanded by the RSF or managed to escape.
Modazir, a 29-year-old member of the Zaghawa community, was detained in Shala prison, where he was frequently subjected to beatings and where he witnessed murders. "Torture is permanent in any detention (by the RSF). They executed those who tried to look at them (...) If you sleep too much, they don't like it and they will execute you. They ask: 'Do you want to rest? We will give you a permanent rest,'" he recounted.
In the same vein, Mamun, another 33-year-old Zaghawa, has claimed that he saw members of the paramilitary group shooting at several inmates and that he witnessed the death of a diabetic prisoner who was denied treatment. "They take people (out of the cell) at random, they accuse you of being with the Joint Forces or the Army (...) and they beat you until you faint," he has asserted.
Amnesty also details that women, minors, and some older or injured men were confined in schools transformed into detention centers. Several interviewed women explained that their children suffered from malnutrition due to a lack of food. Haram, 45 years old, has stated that the RSF "insulted people" and "beat the Zaghawas."
Collapse of aid and forced labor
Residents consulted by the organization have indicated that in September only a small number of NGOs were operating in the city and that the RSF closely control their movements. "The city of El Fasher that I knew no longer exists, it is a totally destroyed city. The public infrastructure, schools, official institutions, hospitals, everything is destroyed," one of them said.
"It seemed that everyone is being watched very closely, they do not give humanitarian aid staff any private space to talk. Everyone is terrified," he added, a testimony corroborated by another interviewee, who explained that "there is no total blockade of access (to humanitarian aid), but (...) when organizations carry out activities, (the RSF) will monitor their execution."
Humanitarian staff have expressed their alarm over the high levels of malnutrition in the city, exacerbated by a poor harvest season. Official projections indicate that the state of West Darfur, including El Fasher, could reach the highest level of food insecurity, similar to that of famine.
This situation is compounded by the imposition of forced labor by the RSF, which forces men and women to collect corpses and debris or to cook and clean for the fighters. Misbá, a 32-year-old Zaghawa man, was arrested by the group and forced to cook and take care of cleaning for paramilitary officers. "I never thought I was going to survive," he has said.
In light of this situation, Amnesty International has demanded that the RSF immediately release all individuals arbitrarily detained and end practices of torture and killings. It has also reiterated its call for a ceasefire and the "urgent" deployment of an international force to ensure the real protection of the civilian population, as well as the cessation of arms supplies to the warring parties and the suspension of arms transfers to the UAE until this country ends its support for the RSF.