NEW YORK CITY: Both of the warring factions in Sudan’s civil war, the Sudanese Armed Forces and the paramilitary Rapid Support Forces, are committing war crimes and crimes against humanity, according to the UN’s Independent International Fact-Finding Mission for the Sudan.
Speaking on behalf of the mission, which presented its investigative report to the UN General Assembly’s Third Committee on on Thursday, Joy Ngozi Ezeilo said its investigations documented large-scale atrocities committed by both sides, including “ethnically targeted executions, sexual violence and the deliberate use of starvation as a weapon of war.”
Describing the findings as “direct and harrowing,” she continued: “Our initial investigations point to a deliberate pattern of ethnically targeted executions of unarmed civilians, assaults, sexual violence, widespread looting and destruction of vital infrastructure, and mass forced displacement.”
The mission said the atrocities had intensified during and after the fall of the besieged city of El-Fasher to the RSF, when civilians, particularly those from non-Arab communities, were targeted.
“Our fact-finding mission has gathered verified videos and testimonies showing ongoing attacks against civilians,” Ezeilo said.
