RSF Accused of ‘Ethnic Cleansing’ in Sudan’s Darfur

FILE PHOTO: Sudanese refugees who fled the violence in Sudan's Darfur region and newly arrived ride their donkeys looking for space to temporarily settle, near the border between Sudan and Chad in Goungour, Chad May 8, 2023. REUTERS/Zohra Bensemra/File Photo
FILE PHOTO: Sudanese refugees who fled the violence in Sudan's Darfur region and newly arrived ride their donkeys looking for space to temporarily settle, near the border between Sudan and Chad in Goungour, Chad May 8, 2023. REUTERS/Zohra Bensemra/File Photo
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RSF Accused of ‘Ethnic Cleansing’ in Sudan’s Darfur

FILE PHOTO: Sudanese refugees who fled the violence in Sudan's Darfur region and newly arrived ride their donkeys looking for space to temporarily settle, near the border between Sudan and Chad in Goungour, Chad May 8, 2023. REUTERS/Zohra Bensemra/File Photo
FILE PHOTO: Sudanese refugees who fled the violence in Sudan's Darfur region and newly arrived ride their donkeys looking for space to temporarily settle, near the border between Sudan and Chad in Goungour, Chad May 8, 2023. REUTERS/Zohra Bensemra/File Photo

Human Rights Watch on Thursday accused the Rapid Support Forces in Sudan of carrying out ethnic cleansing and killings against the non-Arab Massalit people in El Geneina, the capital of West Darfur.

The leading rights group said the attacks indicate that genocide has been or is being committed there.

In the 186-page report, “'The Massalit Will Not Come Home': Ethnic Cleansing and Crimes Against Humanity in El Geneina, West Darfur, Sudan,” HWR documented evidence of the campaign carried out against the Massalit residents in their historic capital, El Geneina.

The rights body documented that the RSF and their allied mainly Arab militias, targeted the predominantly Massalit neighborhoods of El Geneina in relentless waves of attacks from April to June. It showed that abuses escalated again in early November.

“Attacks by the Rapid Support Forces and allied militias in El Geneina, capital of Sudan’s West Darfur state, killed at least thousands of people and left hundreds of thousands as refugees,” the report said.

More than half a million refugees from West Darfur have fled to Chad since April 2023. As of late October 2023, 75 percent were from El Geneina.

The rights body said the serious violations that targeted the Massalit people and other non-Arab communities with the apparent objective of at least having them permanently leave the region, constitutes ethnic cleansing.

Genocide

Tirana Hassan, executive director at HRW said the particular context in which the widespread killings took place also raises the possibility that the RSF and their allies have the intent to destroy in whole or in part the Massalit in at least West Darfur, which would indicate that genocide has been and/or is being committed there.

Therefore, the rights body called for urgent action from all governments and international institutions to protect civilians.

“They should ensure investigation as to whether the facts demonstrate a specific intent on the part of the RSF leadership and its allies to destroy in whole or in part the Massalit and other non-Arab ethnic communities in West Darfur, that is, to commit genocide,” HRW noted.

Also, Hassan said the UN and African Union should urgently impose an arms embargo on Sudan, sanction those responsible for serious crimes and deploy a mission to protect civilians.

The violence in El Geneina began nine days after fighting broke out in Khartoum on April 15, 2023 between the Sudanese Armed Forces (SAF), led by General Abdel Fattah al-Burhan, and the RSF, led by Mohammed Hamdan Dagalo, widely known as Hemedti.

The UN says about 15,000 people are feared to have been killed in El Geneina last year. Also, the crisis left the majority of Sudan's 48 million people facing catastrophic levels of hunger and has driven more than 8.5 million people from their homes.

According to the HRW report, violence culminated in a large-scale massacre on June 15, when the RSF and its allies opened fire on a kilometers-long convoy of civilians desperately trying to flee, escorted by Massalit fighters.

Harrowing Testimony

According to the HRW report, the RSF and allied militias escalated their abuses again in November, targeting Massalit people who had found refuge in the El Geneina suburb of Ardamata, rounding up Massalit men and boys and, according to the UN, killing at least 1,000 people.

A 17-year-old boy described to HRW the killing of 12 children and 5 adults from several families. He said, “Two RSF forces grabbed the children from their parents and, as the parents started screaming, two other RSF forces shot the parents, killing them. Then they piled up the children and shot them. They threw their bodies into the river and their belongings in after them.”

Also, HRW documented the killing of Arab residents and the looting of Arab neighborhoods by Massalit forces in Darfur.

The rights body called on the global community to support the investigations of the International Criminal Court (ICC) to ensure it has the financial resources needed in its regular budget to carry out its mandate in Darfur and across its docket.

Last July, the ICC said it is investigating alleged new war crimes and crimes against humanity in Sudan's Darfur region.



Israeli Probe into Killings of 15 Palestinian Medics in Gaza Finds ‘Professional Failures’

Palestinians mourn medics, who came under Israeli fire while on a rescue mission, after their bodies were recovered, according to the Red Crescent, at Nasser hospital in Khan Younis in the southern Gaza Strip March 31, 2025. (Reuters)
Palestinians mourn medics, who came under Israeli fire while on a rescue mission, after their bodies were recovered, according to the Red Crescent, at Nasser hospital in Khan Younis in the southern Gaza Strip March 31, 2025. (Reuters)
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Israeli Probe into Killings of 15 Palestinian Medics in Gaza Finds ‘Professional Failures’

Palestinians mourn medics, who came under Israeli fire while on a rescue mission, after their bodies were recovered, according to the Red Crescent, at Nasser hospital in Khan Younis in the southern Gaza Strip March 31, 2025. (Reuters)
Palestinians mourn medics, who came under Israeli fire while on a rescue mission, after their bodies were recovered, according to the Red Crescent, at Nasser hospital in Khan Younis in the southern Gaza Strip March 31, 2025. (Reuters)

An Israeli investigation into the killings of 15 Palestinian medics last month in Gaza by Israeli forces said Sunday it found “professional failures” and a deputy commander will be fired.

Israel at first claimed that the medics' vehicles did not have emergency signals on when troops opened fire but later backtracked. Cellphone video recovered from one of the medics contradicted Israel’s initial account.

The military investigation found that the deputy battalion commander, “due to poor night visibility,” assessed that the ambulances belonged to Hamas fighters. Video footage obtained from the incident shows the ambulances had lights flashing and logos visible as they pulled up to help another ambulance that came under fire earlier. The teams do not appear to be acting unusually or in a threatening manner as three medics emerge and head toward it.

Their vehicles immediately come under a barrage of gunfire that goes on for more than five minutes with brief pauses.

Bodies were buried in a mass grave

Eight Red Crescent personnel, six Civil Defense workers and a UN staffer were killed in the shooting before dawn on March 23 by troops conducting operations in Tel al-Sultan, a district of the southern Gaza city of Rafah. Troops bulldozed over the bodies along with their mangled vehicles, burying them in a mass grave. UN and rescue workers were only able to reach the site a week later to dig out the bodies.

The head of the Palestinian Red Crescent Society has said the men were “targeted at close range.”

The Israeli military investigation said the examination found "no evidence to support claims of execution or that any of the deceased were bound before or after the shooting."

It said the Palestinians were killed due to an “operational misunderstanding” by Israeli forces, and that a separate incident 15 minutes later, when Israeli soldiers shot at a Palestinian UN vehicle, was a breach of orders.

The deputy commander who will be dismissed was the first to open fire and the rest of the soldiers also started shooting, the investigation said.

The findings asserted that six of those killed were Hamas members and said some of the others were originally misidentified as Hamas. Israel’s military initially said nine were militants. The Civil Defense is part of the Hamas-run government.

The investigation found that the decision to crush the ambulances was wrong but said there was no attempt to conceal the event. Maj. Gen Yoav Har-Even, in charge of the military’s investigative branch, said the bodies and vehicles were removed from the road because the military wanted to use it for an evacuation route later that day.

Har-Even said the military notified international organizations about the shooting that day and helped them locate the bodies.

The statement on the findings concluded by saying that Israel’s military “regrets the harm caused to uninvolved civilians.” The one survivor was detained for investigation and remains in custody for further questioning.

The investigation's findings have been turned over the Military Advocate General, which can decide whether to file charges. It is meant to be an independent body, with oversight by Israel’s attorney general and Supreme Court.

There are no outside investigations of the killings underway.

Israel has accused Hamas of moving and hiding its fighters inside ambulances and emergency vehicles, as well as in hospitals and other civilian infrastructure, arguing that justifies strikes on them. Medical personnel largely deny the accusations.

Israeli strikes have killed more than 150 emergency responders from the Red Crescent and Civil Defense, most of them while on duty, as well as over 1,000 health workers during the war, according to the UN The Israeli military rarely investigates such incidents.

Israel disputes ICC accusations of war crimes

Palestinians and international human rights groups have repeatedly accused Israel’s military of failing to properly investigate or whitewashing misconduct by its troops.

Har-Even said the Israeli military is currently investigating 421 incidents during the war, with 51 concluded and sent to the Military Advocate General. There was no immediate information on the number of investigations involving potential wrongful deaths or how many times the MAG has pursued criminal charges.

The International Criminal Court, established by the international community as a court of last resort, has accused Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and former defense minister Yoav Gallant of war crimes. Israel, which is not a member of the court, has long asserted that its legal system is capable of investigating the army, and Netanyahu has accused the ICC of antisemitism.

The war in Gaza began when Hamas-led gunmen attacked southern Israel on Oct. 7, 2023, killing about 1,200 people, mostly civilians, and abducting 251. Most of the hostages have been released in ceasefire agreements or other deals. Hamas currently holds 59 hostages, 24 of them believed to be alive.

Israel’s offensive has since killed over 51,000 Palestinians, mostly women and children, according to Gaza’s Health Ministry, which does not distinguish between civilians and combatants.

The war has destroyed vast parts of Gaza and most of its food production capabilities. Around 90% of the population is displaced, with hundreds of thousands of people living in tent camps and bombed-out buildings.

Frustration has been growing on both sides, with rare public protests against Hamas in Gaza and continued weekly rallies in Israel pressing the government to reach a deal to bring all hostages home.