A senior Sudanese diplomat has accused Rapid Support Forces (RSF) of committing war crimes in the country’s North Darfur state, as survivors of the city of El Fasher recount mass killings and sexual assaults by paramilitary forces.
Sudan’s ambassador to Egypt, Imadelddin Mustafa Adawi, made the claims on Sunday, accusing the United Arab Emirates (UAE) of supporting the RSF militia in the ongoing civil war.
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Gulf states deny this claim.
Adawi’s comments followed earlier statements by Sudanese Prime Minister Kamil Idris to Swiss newspaper Blick that the RSF should be tried in an international tribunal.
But Kamil rejected the “illegal” idea of sending foreign troops into his country, which has been ravaged by a civil war between the RSF and Sudanese forces since April 2023.
The call to action comes a week after the RSF took control of North Darfur’s capital El Fasher after an 18-month siege and starvation campaign that resulted in thousands of reported civilian deaths. The city was the last stronghold of the Sudanese army in the region.
In the days since the capture, survivors have reported mass executions, looting, rape, and other atrocities, sparking an international outcry.
Sudan’s government said at least 2,000 people were killed, but witnesses said the real number could be much higher.
Tens of thousands of civilians are still believed to be trapped in the city.
“The Sudanese government calls on the international community to act immediately and effectively, not simply issue a statement of condemnation,” Adawi told a news conference in Egypt’s capital Cairo.
The envoy called on the world to designate the RSF as a “terrorist” organization, condemn it for “committing atrocities amounting to genocide” and denounce “its official regional funder and supporter, the United Arab Emirates.”
He also said Sudan would not participate in talks leading to an end to the conflict if Egypt, Saudi Arabia, the United States and the UAE remained in the negotiations.
“We do not consider them (the UAE) to be a mediator or a reliable person on this issue,” Adawi stressed.
mass murder, sexual assault
However, the UAE denies allegations that it supplies arms to the RSF.
At a forum in Bahrain’s capital Manama, the UAE’s presidential adviser said Gulf countries wanted help in ending the war and acknowledged that regional and international forces could have done more to prevent conflict in Sudan.
“We all made a mistake when the two generals fighting the civil war today overthrew the civilian government. Looking back, I think it was a grave mistake,” Anwar Gargash said.
Egypt, Saudi Arabia, the United Arab Emirates (UAE) and the United States as mediator have all condemned the mass killings and called for increased humanitarian aid.
Residents who managed to escape El Fasher recalled their harrowing experiences as the world’s worst humanitarian crisis continues to spiral into chaos.
Adam Yahya, who fled with his four children, told Al Jazeera that his wife was killed in an RSF drone strike shortly before El Fasher fell. He said he and his children had little time to grieve until they found themselves on the run from a paramilitary group.
“The streets were full of dead people. We reached one of the sand barriers set up by the RSF. They were firing machine guns at people, including men, women and children. We heard voices saying, ‘Kill everyone, leave no one alive,'” Yahya said.
“We ran back and hid. At night, I slowly slipped out with my children and climbed over the fence. We walked to the village, where someone took pity on us and drove us to the camp here.”
Another 45-year-old woman in a displacement camp in al-Daba, Sudan’s northern state, told Al Jazeera that she had been sexually assaulted by RSF fighters.
The woman, who gave only her first name, Rasha, said she left her daughters at home when the RSF took over the army headquarters on Sunday and went looking for her sons.
“RSF asked me where I was going and said they were looking for my sons. They forced me into the house and started sexually assaulting me. I told them I was old enough to be their mother. I cried,” she said.
“Then they released me and I ran away with my daughters, leaving my sons behind. I don’t know where they are now,” she said.
“We just ran away, passed the bodies, climbed over the fence and reached a small village outside El Fasher,” she added.
Meanwhile, aid agencies say thousands of people who fled El Fasher are still missing.
Caroline Bouvard, Sudan country director for International Solidarity, said only a few hundred more people had gathered in Tawila, the town closest to El Fasher, in recent days.
“This is a very low number considering the number of people stranded in El Fasher. We continue to hear feedback that people are stranded on the road or in other villages, which unfortunately we are still unable to enter for safety reasons,” she said.
Bouvard said there had been a “total blackout” regarding information coming out of El Fasher after the RSF takeover, with aid agencies receiving information from surrounding areas where up to 15,000 people are believed to be stranded.
“Support is strongly needed with various parties to ensure that humanitarian aid reaches these people, or at least that trucks can be sent to bring them back to Tawira,” she added.
