GENEVA – The UN’s Independent International Fact-Finding Mission for the Sudan condemned the reported massacre of more than 100 people at displacement camps in Darfur over the weekend and warned that the nation’s already devastating conflict could intensify as the war tragically enters its third year.

The Fact-Finding Mission reiterated its call for warring parties to immediately cease fire and stop attacking civilians and urged other states to refrain from fueling the war and ensure respect for international humanitarian law.

“As Sudan enters into its third year of conflict, we must reflect on the catastrophic situation in Sudan and honor the lives of all Sudanese who have been lost or changed forever,” said Mohamed Chande Othman, chair of the Fact-Finding Mission. “The world has witnessed two years of ruthless conflict which has trapped millions of civilians in harrowing situations, subjecting them to violations and suffering with no end in sight. Amid the rising tide of hate speech and ethnically driven violence and reprisals, we fear the darkest chapters of this conflict have yet to unfold.”

On 15 April 2023, residents of the capital, Khartoum, woke to the sound of gunfire and explosions, signaling the outbreak of intense fighting between the Sudanese Armed Forces (SAF) and the Rapid Support Forces (RSF) which rapidly spread across the country. Since then, thousands of civilians have been killed, with many more subjected to rape and other forms of sexual violence, forced displacement, starvation, looting and the destruction of homes, health facilities, markets and other civilian infrastructure. An unknown number of Sudanese also remain missing, while humanitarian workers and human rights defenders continue to be threatened and attacked.

The Fact-Finding Mission, established by the Human Rights Council in October 2023, has been investigating violations committed during the conflict, including through gathering testimony from witnesses and survivors of some of the country’s worst atrocities. The Mission has recently obtained first-hand accounts of atrocities committed in El Fasher and surrounding areas in North Darfur. These include reports of civilians being targeted and killed, through shelling, as well as widespread looting and the destruction and burning of civilian property, farmland and crops.

Survivors from Zamzam camp, south of El Fasher - one of the largest internally displaced persons camps in Sudan with an estimated population of 750,000, half of them children according to UNICEF - recounted being placed under siege-like conditions which have severely restricted their access to food, water, medicine and movement. These conditions continue until today, and humanitarian access to the camp remains nearly impossible, resulting in children dying from hunger, according to the UN World Food Program.

Survivors spoke of being stopped, harassed, robbed and detained at checkpoints around El Fasher and Zamzam camp. They also testified about the looting of property, livestock and food supplies, killings of dozens of people, and the burning of dozens of villages around El Fasher, including north between Kutum and Anka in October 2024, and Abu Zerega, Shagra, and Golo in December 2024 and January 2025. Most of these atrocities were attributed to the RSF.

The latest attacks by RSF forces – which began on 11 April and targeted Zamzam and Abu Shouk settlements for internally displaced people, as well as El Fasher itself - have killed more than a hundred civilians, including nine medical personnel of Relief International.

The Fact-Finding Mission also received alarming reports of reprisal attacks carried out by the SAF and its allies in areas recaptured from the RSF. It is investigating such attacks, including reports of detention and extra-judicial and arbitrary executions of RSF members and those believed to have supported the RSF in areas previously under its control, in particular in Al-Dinder and Sinja in Sennar state, and Wad Madani in Al-Gezira state, between September 2024 and January 2025.

Newly acquired areas in Khartoum, over which the SAF announced full control on 7 April, have reportedly seen harsh retaliation from the SAF and its allies, including public executions and without fair trials of civilians accused of collaborating with the RSF and mass arrests in districts like Al-Kalakla and other parts of southern Khartoum, with detainees' fates currently unknown.

On Tuesday, around 20 states, many of them with influence over the warring parties, are meeting in London to discuss the humanitarian situation in Sudan. The Fact-Finding Mission urges them to design and support measures to protect civilians and ensure respect for human rights and international humanitarian law by all parties.

“This weekend’s mass killings of civilians in Zamzam and Abu Shouk are horrific,” said Mona Rishmawi, a member of the Fact-Finding Mission. “Deliberate attacks on civilians, medical workers and healthcare infrastructure amount to international crimes. These acts highlight the urgent need to prevent further escalation and to protect civilians and the lifesaving systems they rely on.”

“States have an obligation not only to respect but also to ensure respect for the Geneva Conventions,” Rishmawi said. “This means that States should neither finance the war nor provide weapons, as this may encourage, aid and assist the warring parties in committing violations. Our Fact-Finding Mission has found already last year that there are reasonable grounds to believe that both sides have committed war crimes, and in the case of the RSF, also crimes against humanity”.

An estimated 24.6 million persons in Sudan - more than half of Sudan’s population - are facing acute food insecurity, with nearly eight million facing acute hunger. Famine conditions in Zamzam Camp were confirmed in August 2024 and have persisted and expanded to Abu Shouk and Al Salam camps and the Western Nuba Mountains. Over 12 million civilians have been displaced in all, which includes over 8.5 million internally and more than 3.5 million refugees who fled the country. These numbers are increasing daily.

“The testimonies we have recently received about food insecurity and starvation suggest these conditions may be man-made,” said Joy Ngozi Ezeilo, a member of the Fact-Finding Mission. “The impact of the conflict on all Sudanese, in particular women and children, is severe and long-lasting. Many have lost family members and are left traumatized by the level of violence they have been subjected to without the support they desperately need. This reemphasizes the need for protection of civilians, including humanitarian workers and human rights defenders, humanitarian aid, accountability for these atrocity crimes, and to address the huge impact of the conflict on the Sudanese civilians through justice and reparations including socio-psychological support.”

ENDS

Background: The UN Human Rights Council established the Independent International Fact-Finding Mission for the Sudan in October 2023 with resolution A/HRC/RES/54/2, and extended its mandate until October 2025 with resolution A/HRC/RES/57/2. Its key task is “to investigate and establish the facts, circumstances and root causes of all alleged human rights violations and abuses and violations of international humanitarian law, including those committed against refugees, and related crimes in the context of the ongoing armed conflict that began on 15 April 2023, between the Sudanese Armed Forces and the Rapid Support Forces, as well as other warring parties.”

For media queries, please contact: Todd Pitman, Media Adviser for the UN Human Rights Council’s Investigative Bodies, [email protected] / +41766911761.