Crimes against Humanity and Human Rights in Sudan by the Rebel Rapid Support Forces militia

In the name of God, the most gracious, the most merciful

El Haqeeqa

Issue “5” of the first tri-lingual electronic magazine, devoted to tracking the transgressions of the Rapid Support Forces militia, August 2023.

Crimes against Humanity and Human Rights in Sudan by the Rebel Rapid Support Forces militia.

El Haqeeqa documents:

Introduction

The Sudanese war has now raged for more than 100 days. During this time, the renegade Rapid Support Forces militia has perpetrated some of the most imaginable atrocious violations. These acts are in flagrant breach of international and humanitarian regulations, yet international human rights organizations have done little more than issue condemnatory statements. They have not made efforts to label the group as a terrorist organization. Meanwhile, the militia’s grave offences against civilians continue across various Sudanese states.
In mid-July 2023, evidence was gathered of a massacre carried out by the RSF militia against civilians in parts of Khartoum State using drones.

Furthermore, reports by the BBC and the Unit for Combating Violence against Women and Children, corroborated by El Haqeeqa, reveal horrifying statistics regarding sexual assault in Khartoum and Darfur. El Haqeeqa also tracked media reports that confirm the buying and selling of girls and women in the Catal market in North Darfur, actions that clearly violate international and humanitarian law.

These breaches are escalating, despite initiatives from friendly nations at the Jeddah platform and the conditions laid down for peaceful negotiations to end the war. Although the Sudanese army has upheld these conditions, the militias continue to invade neighbourhoods and occupy civilian homes and are refusing to leave. They also destroy civil service facilities such as the “Bahri Water Station.””
The militia’s horrendous violations did not end there. Even those displaced people who sought refuge in West Darfur’s displacement camps were not spared; they endured a deceitful assault as part of ongoing ethnic cleansing efforts and a push to plunge the nation into civil war.
Additionally, the militia continues to target Christian places of worship in Khartoum and has even torched the Coptic Church in Um Badda.
Despite these serious violations, militia leaders deny occupying homes and insist that they control 90% of Khartoum’s capital and its key areas. These false claims are repeatedly made at the outset of each negotiation round, attempting to overshadow what the US-Saudi mediation has been demanding: the militia’s withdrawal from civilian homes and facilities as part of the ongoing peace talks.
In addition to persistently committing shocking violations in the health sector, which were monitored by El Haqeeqa, the militia has attacked medical emergency units, including the medical weapon emergency, casualty emergency, and Omdurman emergency services, resulting in the deaths of several civilian patients.

The flagrant and dreadful abuses that citizens endure on a daily basis – such as killings, intimidation, arrests, threats of physical extermination, forced relocation, destruction, rape, and ethnic cleansing at the hands of the Rapid Support Forces militia – have gone largely ignored. These heinous acts have neither received due attention nor condemnation from human rights organizations nor interest from the militia’s friendly parties and political enablers. Instead, these groups continue to repeat the same errors that led to the war through regional platforms.

Nevertheless, “El Haqeeqa” remains the principal tool for tracking these violations and documenting the horrors inflicted upon the Sudanese people. Human rights organizations and international bodies must take concrete steps to classify this militia as a terrorist group, halt its activities, and impose international sanctions rather than merely expressing condemnations. The aim should be to find alternative paths back to civil governance in partnership with the militia and its political backers, instead of supporting this political and terrorist group responsible for war, killing, and displacement in Sudan.

Amid these ongoing violations, the Sudanese Armed Forces continue to exercise their constitutional right as the lawful entity responsible for protecting civilians and maintaining the state’s sovereignty. They remain receptive to all initiatives and open dialogues through various means, including the Sovereign Council, the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, and the security and military services, as the constitutional guarantors of homeland and citizen protection.

El Haqeeqa Documents:

The Unit for Combating Violence against Women and Children has tracked alarming numbers of rape cases committed by the Rapid Support Forces militia. On July 20, 2023, the Al Jazeera Media Network reported on the Violence against Family and Child Unit, highlighting a rise in documented sexual violence cases in Khartoum state, which reached 65 cases after adding 5 new instances. Additionally, 6 new cases were reported in South Darfur state’s Nyala city on May 23, 2023, bringing the total there to 31. The report verified that all documented cases and survivor testimonies identified the perpetrators as members of the Rapid Support Forces.

BBC Arabic – Cairo, on July 26, 2023, further examined how the Rapid Support Forces utilize rape as an intimidation tool. The site featured the testimony of Umm Kulthum, a housewife from El Geneina, who was abducted at gunpoint and raped by the forces. They hurled derogatory and racist insults at her and ordered her to leave the city due to her Masalit tribe affiliation. She now receives health care in a modest facility where she resides.
El Geneina has been the scene of violence and clashes that took on an ethnic dimension, including identity killings. The United Nations’ envoy to Sudan, Volker Peretz, confirmed receiving reliable reports that the Rapid Support Forces committed grave violations, including identity-based killings and sexual violence.
The BBC website has collected numerous testimonies from victims of rape by the Rapid Support Forces since the start of the conflict. One of these accounts is from Nour, a resident of the Kafouri area in Bahri city. She recalls how, after the occupation of their homes by the Rapid Support Forces, her family decided to leave. While they were travelling in a small car through a checkpoint, a soldier commanded her to get out. When her family objected, the soldier fired shots, wounding her younger brother, and then forcibly took her to a nearby house, where he raped her. Later, he returned her to the checkpoint and arranged for her transportation.

Another testimony is from 24-year-old Ibtisam, living in El-Thawra in Omdurman. She narrates her ordeal of being abducted by the Rapid Support Forces while on her way to her aunt’s house. They forced her into a house where three men took turns raping her before dumping her at the roadside at sunset.

On July 29, 2023, Al-Hadath channel interviewed a victim, “Ikram,” in Khartoum state, who affirmed that she, along with 13 other girls of varying ages, was raped by the rebel militia.

Human rights activist Tahani Abbas, director of the Noura Organization for Women and Children, asserts that the Rapid Support Forces are using rape as a war tactic to intimidate and suppress resistance. She noted that they had previously employed this method in Darfur and are now doing the same in Khartoum systematically and intentionally. The Noura organization has documented over 50 cases, mostly in Khartoum, and has called on international and regional human rights organizations for immediate intervention.

El Haqeeqa Documents:
The United Nations Human Rights Office reports credible evidence of mass graves for the Masalit in El Geneina, and the International Organization for Migration provides shocking figures on displacement since April 15.

The United Nations Human Rights Office recently stated it has credible reports of mass graves containing 78 members of the Masalit tribe in El Geneina, who were killed in June, with attacks linked to the Rapid Support Forces on the rise. The Washington Post published an article confirming that a new generation of Darfuris faces a new genocide. Press reports also contain testimonials from the Masalit people about the Rapid Support militia’s brutal killings, including slaughtering male children and exterminating hundreds while fleeing to displacement camps.

On July 31, 2023, the Darfur Bar Association and partners called for the Rapid Support Forces to cease their criminal operations across several Darfur states, resulting in thousands being displaced. They urged international and human rights organizations to intervene immediately to enforce accountability.

The International Organization for Migration announced that the number of displaced Sudanese has surpassed three million due to the war between the Sudanese Armed Forces and the Rapid Support rebels. The organization reported that 2,686,434 people were internally displaced, including 537,969 families, while over 844,574 fled to neighboring countries. This information was included in the organization’s report No. 14, issued on July 25, 2023, covering the period from April 15 to July 23, 2023. The report noted that the conflict, which began in the northern states and Khartoum, extended to Darfur, North Kordofan, South Kordofan, and Blue Nile, though the intensity of attacks was generally lower compared to Khartoum.
Internal Displacement of Citizens:
The report provides details of the internal displacement in Sudan, categorizing them by state and detailing the number and percentage of people displaced:

• Khartoum: 1,975,088 people (73.52%)
• South Darfur: 196,344 people (7.31%)
• North Darfur: 194,276 people (7.23%)
• West Darfur: 177,900 people (6.62%)
• Central Darfur: 123,205 people (4.59%)
• North Kordofan: 12,082 people (0.45%)
• South Kordofan: 7,114 people (0.26%)
• Al Jazeera: 425 people (0.02%)

Displacement of Foreigners Inside Sudan:
The number of internally displaced foreigners within Sudan has reached 100,407, accounting for 3.74% of the total number of internally displaced persons. The distribution across states is as follows:

• White Nile: 89,725 people (32.98%)
• Kassala: 4,500 people (7.05%)
• Gedaref: 3,485 people (2.47%)
• Red Sea: 1,247 people (1.53%)
• Blue Nile: 375 people (0.94%)

The report also indicates the percentages of internally displaced persons received by the largest Sudanese states:

• Nile River: 16.72%
• Northern State: 13.41%
• White Nile: 10.14%
• Sennar: 8.09%

Shelters for the Internally Displaced:
The internal displacement sites number 2,746, housing 1,499,510 people (55.82%) in cities and 1,186,924 people (44.18%) in rural areas. Within these figures, people are settled in neighborhoods, camps inside cities, villages, and rural camps.

Types of Shelters:

• Community hosting: 372,599 people (69.26%)
• Rental: 58,847 people (10.94%)
• Official camps: 36,337 people (6.75%)
• Unprepared camps: 28,383 people (5.28%)
• Schools and public facilities: 24,908 people (4.63%)
• Open areas: 16,895 people (3.14%)

The report emphasizes the priority needs of the internally displaced, including food, non-food items, drinking water, health and medical supplies, and public utilities like bathrooms. A survey indicates various preferences regarding relocation, with 39.04% wishing to return to their origin, 35.01% planning to remain in their current areas, and 25.95% intending to move to a third location.

Displacement to Neighboring Countries:
The report also highlights the displacement to neighboring countries (Egypt, Chad, Ethiopia, Central Africa, and Libya), totaling 844,574 people. Among these, 66% are Sudanese, and 34% are foreigners. The distribution by country is as follows:

• Chad: 308,617 people (36.55%)
• Egypt: 255,565 people (33.3%)
• South Sudan: 189,917 people (22.5%)
• Ethiopia: 69,946 people (8.3%)
• Central Africa: 17,227 people (2.00%)
• Libya: 3,302 people (less than 1%)
  General Notes on the Report:
  As of July 25, 2023, the number of displaced persons has risen to 2,686,434, a significant increase from the 2,613,036 reported on July 18, 2023. This rise, amounting to 73,398 people within one week, underscores the fact that appeals for returns are largely being ignored. The exception is West Darfur, where the report notes a return movement of 100,407 people, marking a decrease of 4.31%. The situation in the White Nile and Kassala regions is also distinct, where humanitarian organizations concentrate more on displaced people crossing into neighboring countries.

With autumn approaching, a time prone to disease spread and possible floods, medical humanitarian assistance should be prioritized. The World Health Organization has flagged the health crisis in Sudan as reaching perilous levels, with more than two-thirds of hospitals non-operational. From April 15 to July 24, 2023, WHO has verified 51 attacks on health facilities, resulting in 10 deaths and 24 injuries, further restricting access to essential healthcare.

El Haqeeqa Documents:
War Crimes in Al-Azouzab Area: On July 19, 2023, the Sudanese army reported that militia members clashed with their forces. During this clash, rebel militia targeted civilians gathered to support the army with a drone, killing 14 and wounding 15 in an act contradicting international and humanitarian standards. Videos and widespread condemnation of these acts have spurred calls for the Sudanese army’s protection.

Civilians Targeted in Bahri and Omdurman: Various Sudanese media sources have reported that rebels launched attacks on civilians through mortars, killing several individuals.

El Haqeeqa Documents:
Enforced Disappearance and Arrests by Militia: According to Reuters’ reports on Sudanese human rights organizations, around 5,000 people, including 3,500 civilians, were detained by RSF under inhumane conditions. In July 2023, the Sudanese human rights group announced that 430 people had been forcibly disappeared during the conflict, as per Article “47” of the Criminal Code. Othman Al-Basri, a member of the group, confirmed these details, emphasizing the situation in Wad Medani locality in Gezira state.

He verified hearing several accounts from survivors, describing their confinement in buildings and basements without proper ventilation or sanitation. Al-Basri elaborated that the RSF had utilized these locations to detain civilians.

The Bahri Revival Committees, in a statement dated July 25, 2023, asserted that the Janjaweed militia continues to engage in large-scale violations within neighborhoods, particularly in the Bahri area, where the situation is deteriorating due to their ongoing brutal actions against civilians. Among those detained were Muhammad Al-Hajj Al-Bashir and Al-Zaki Khojali, and Hassan Al-Amin Muhammad Nuri was horrifically killed. The statement urged the militia to cease targeting civilians.

El Haqeeqa Documents:

The Federal Ministry of Health denounced the continued targeting of health facilities. On July 15, 2023, a statement was issued concerning the Rapid Support Forces’ drone attack on the Medical Weapons Hospital, specifically targeting the emergency department, leading to civilian casualties. This act clearly violates international norms and laws.
On July 16, 2023, the Sudanese army made a statement about the militia’s artillery shelling of the Alia Specialist Hospital in Omdurman, causing extensive damage to the dialysis center, intensive care center, operating room, and various inpatient rooms, injuring a patient and targeting other medical facilities, resulting in five deaths and 22 injuries.
On July 22, 2023, a statement from the Ambada Al-Rashideen emergency room detailed the Janjaweed forces’ invasion, where they assaulted all volunteer medical staff and stole their phones.
Two days later, the Ministry of Health released another statement condemning the rebel Rapid Support Forces’ ongoing systematic violations in the health sector, including the murder of medical staff member Mohiuddin Muhammad Ali outside the Umbada Teaching Hospital as he was serving civilian patients.
El Haqeeqa documents:

Crimes against humanity, including slave markets, are being perpetrated by the Rapid Support Forces militia in North Darfur. The Darfur Bar Association announced on July 13, 2023, that they had learned of slave markets in the region, with women and girls, abducted from Khartoum’s war zones, being traded. Many girls have been kidnapped, and secret negotiations between relatives of the abductees and the kidnappers are ongoing for their release in exchange for financial ransoms.
The Sudanese Observatory Networks pointed out that the Katal Market in North Darfur operates as a slave market where girls are sold for 650 pounds. Several media networks have called on organizations to intervene in this matter.
It also monitored Sudanese press reports, and citizens’ statements about a number of abducted captives, who sought the help of citizens from the Rapid Support Forces, while they were passing through the neighboring states to the states of Darfur.

El Haqeeqa Documents:
On July 22, 2023, the Khartoum State Water Authority issued a statement about the details of the breakdowns and maintenance of its various facilities, where the authority stated that the damage to the Bahri water station as a result of its destruction by the rebel Rapid Support Forces led to the complete cessation of the station for nearly four months, as the station produces about 300,000 cubic meters. M. On the day, the Commission visited the station, accompanied by the Red Cross, in order to assess the damage caused and to develop an urgent plan for its maintenance and operation.
Sudanese media networks reported that the financial cost of the maintenance amounted to “57” million dollars, while the Commission denied that it was less than the mentioned cost. Since the outbreak of the war on April 15, the Rapid Support Forces have seized the Bahri water station, turning it into a military barracks as part of its systematic plan to destroy service facilities, in clear violation of human rights.

El Haqeeqa Documented:
On July 28, 2023, the US Embassy in Sudan said that reports indicate that the Rapid Support Forces have intensified the occupation of civilian homes. It called on the armed forces and the Rapid Support Forces to ensure respect for humanitarian law in Sudan, distinguishing between civilians and combatants and facilitating the unhindered access of humanitarian aid, stressing in a statement that the outcome of the human suffering in Sudan is appalling.

While the Sudanese army confirmed in a statement issued on July 29, 2023 that the rebel militia, continuing its brutal violations against defenseless civilians and continuing its forced displacement from their homes, seizing them and using them for military purposes, bombed the Rumaila neighborhood next to the Armored Corps, which led to the death of a family consisting of four children and seriously injured their mother. Another woman in the same neighborhood succumbed to her injuries. In clear violation of international and humanitarian law.

While citizens in a number of neighborhoods in Khartoum state called on the Sudanese army to intervene to end the occupation of their homes by the Rapid Support militia by all appropriate means.
El Haqeeqa Documents:
Militia violations on places of worship of Christian communities
After its destruction, the wounding and killing of a number of Christians inside the Church of St. George in Al-Masalma, and the storming of the Angel Church last June, Sudanese media networks reported that, on July 15, 2023, the Rapid Support Forces destroyed the Coptic Church in Umbada and stole its property.

El Haqeeqa Documents:
The European Union and the silence of the international community
In light of the silence of the international community, press reports and organizations working in the field of migration confirmed that the European Union is supporting the militia leader, Hamidti, to stop African migrants from reaching Europe. While the same reports confirmed an invisible relationship between the European Union and the militia leader, “Hamedti,” where the former pays huge amounts of invisible money to the militia leader to stop the migration of Africans. While the European Union official for the Horn of Africa is currently working to gather the leaders of freedom and change, the “political incubator of the rebels,” in favor of rapid support and to create a partnership formula for what is called civil rule. In the same context, Al-Hadath channel reported on July 26, 2023, the arrival of the official spokesman for freedom and change, Eng. Khaled Selik, to the Belgian capital, at the invitation of the European Union, to participate in a consultative meeting on ways to stop the war, establish peace, support democratic transformation, and strengthen efforts to address the humanitarian crisis left by the war. A number of Sudanese civil society organizations denounced the behavior of the Forces of Freedom and Change group that caused the war in Sudan due to repeated exclusion and alliance with the militia that violated the rights of Sudanese citizens and displaced them, and ignored the behavior of the rebels who caused the crimes of genocide and ethnic cleansing in Darfur since April 15 and raped minors. And that small group is still establishing new platforms in Cairo and Togo and continues to repeat the same mistakes that led to the war without regard for the right and dignity of the Sudanese people.

El Haqeeqa Documents:
The Sovereign Council in Sudan is making efforts for stability, and the reconstruction of what was destroyed by the war. The delegation is looking forward, during its participation in this summit, to enhancing opportunities for comprehensive and fair cooperation between Russia, Sudan, and African countries participating in the fields of trade, investment, technology, food, health care, and education, especially with regard to efforts to rebuild what was destroyed by the war. His Excellency met on the sidelines of the Russian-African Summit, the Prime Minister of the Republic of Algeria, Mr. Ayman bin Abdul Rahman, the Minister of Investment and the Undersecretary of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, where they affirmed their support for the Government of Sudan to serve the interests and aspirations of the Sudanese people by upholding its sovereignty and national institutions. His Excellency also met with Togolese Minister of Foreign Affairs, Robert Ducey, and declared his government’s position in support of the Government of Sudan.

While the Sudanese Armed Forces affirmed its keenness to lift the suffering of its citizens and its belief in openness to all initiatives seeking to find solutions that lead to ending the current crisis in the country. The Sudanese Foreign Ministry also confirmed the readiness of the negotiating delegation to return to the Jeddah platform when the Saudi and American mediators are able to overcome the obstacles that prevent the continuation of the discussions.

The Eye of the El Haqeeqa:
Special Action Forces, the right arm of the Sudanese army

Since the outbreak of the war last April, the Sudanese Armed Forces have continued to carry out their duties in accordance with the constitution as the legitimate institution responsible for protecting the sovereignty of the state and its people, in coordination with the national security and military services, led by the General Intelligence Service, Military Intelligence, and the police, which announced since April 15, in its first statement, that what the Rapid Support Forces did is a rebellion against the parent institution to which it belongs, which is the Sudanese Armed Forces Foundation. The Special Action Forces entered force in support of the armed forces in their war against the rebel Rapid Support militia, in response to the call of the Armed Forces Commander last July. These forces were able to break the militia’s thorn in many battles in the Bahri, Khartoum, and Omdurman regions, in addition to their role in cutting off the militia’s supply lines, which are forces operating under the command and command of the Sudanese Armed Forces. During his address to the Special Action Forces, the Assistant Commander-in-Chief of the Armed Forces, Lieutenant General Yasser Al-Atta, praised the role of these forces in breaking the thorn of the rebellion, and sent important messages to the Kenyan President, who calls for the entry of East African “ISAF” forces into Sudan, and another message for freedom and change, the Central Council, the political incubator of the rebels. The Special Action Forces are considered among the forces specialized in protecting civilians, combating terrorism and illegal immigration, and fighting extremist Islamic groups. In their battles in Khartoum state, these forces presented a number of martyrs who answered the call to protect the country from mercenaries and militia.

The Eye of the El Haqeeqa:
On July 15, 2023, the Sudanese communities in America held a major demonstration in support of the Sudanese army and demanded that the Rapid Support Forces be classified as a terrorist organization, with the participation of the communities in Washington, Virginia, Philadelphia, New York, New Jersey, and Delior.