Amnesty International has released a detailed report accusing Sudan’s Rapid Support Forces (RSF) of crimes against humanity in el-Fasher, the capital of North Darfur. The allegations include systematic killings, torture, and sexual violence targeting civilians. The United Kingdom has responded by calling for an immediate UN Security Council intervention, framing the crisis as a failure of international accountability.
The RSF, a paramilitary group formed from former Janjaweed militias, has been locked in a brutal conflict with the Sudanese Armed Forces (SAF) since April 2023. According to Amnesty’s evidence, the RSF has deliberately attacked residential areas, hospitals, and markets in el-Fasher, using heavy weaponry including artillery and drones. Civilians attempting to flee have been blocked, with checkpoints where killings and abductions reportedly occur.
“The pattern of attacks in el-Fasher is not random,” stated Dr. Helena Vance, Science & Climate Correspondent, though personally observing a grim parallel: “Much like the systematic disintegration of a glacier, the removal of civilian infrastructure is a slow, grinding loss of stability. Here, it is a man-made collapse.” The report documents at least 125 extrajudicial executions between May and July 2024, with victims including women, children, and elderly. Survivors describe RSF fighters forcing families to choose sides, then summarily executing those perceived as opponents.
The UK’s Foreign Secretary has issued a statement describing the situation as “a stain on our collective conscience” and urging the UN to authorise a mission to protect civilians. However, the UN Security Council remains fractured, with Russia and China historically sceptical of interventions in Sudan. The UK’s call echoes earlier attempts to renew the UN Integrated Transition Assistance Mission in Sudan (UNITAMS), which was terminated in December 2023 after Khartoum’s objection.
El-Fasher holds strategic significance. It is a gateway for humanitarian aid to Darfur, which is already facing catastrophic food insecurity. The RSF’s siege has halted aid deliveries for over two months, pushing the region toward a famine that the UN warns could affect 2.5 million people. Dr. Vance notes: “The assault on el-Fasher is not only a crime against humanity in the legal sense. It is a direct attack on the biosphere of life support. When you systematically remove the ability to feed a city, you engineer a biological collapse.”
Amnesty’s report includes satellite imagery showing deliberate destruction of water treatment plants, bakeries, and fuel depots. The RSF has also targeted healthcare workers: at least 14 doctors have been killed since June, and hospitals have been looted of supplies. This mirrors tactics seen in other contemporary conflicts, where essential services become instruments of war.
The international response has been measured, with the US imposing sanctions on RSF leaders, but without halting arms flows to the region. The UK’s call for a UN resolution faces long odds; any intervention would require a ceasefire, which both sides have rejected. The SAF has also committed abuses, though Amnesty focuses on the RSF due to the scale of attacks against specific ethnic groups, particularly the Masalit, who have been targeted in previous genocides.
Dr. Vance observes a chilling symmetry: “When we witness this destruction, we must recognise it as a form of energy transition. The energy of a society is redirected from growth and sustenance toward destruction. The waste heat is measured in human lives.” The RSF’s methods appear designed to maximise displacement: over 300,000 people have fled el-Fasher since June, joining the 10 million internally displaced in Sudan, the largest such crisis globally.
For the UK, the push for UN action is partly driven by domestic pressure and historical ties to Sudan. The Foreign Secretary’s statement emphasises the need for “accountability and protection of civilians” but offers no concrete timeline. Meanwhile, the RSF continues to consolidate control around el-Fasher, with reports of summary executions and mass graves being discovered daily.
The situation in el-Fasher represents a test for international law. If the UN Security Council cannot act, it will signal that the system of post-1945 protections is hollow. Dr. Vance concludes: “We are watching the erosion of the last century’s hard-won agreements. The physical reality is that without intervention, the casualty figures will rise exponentially. This is not a forecast; it is a calculation.”
