The Seriha Massacre… Sudan’s Shock

Many people in Sudan, and of course outside the country, had not heard of the village of Seriha, in Al-Jazirah State (central Sudan), before the massacre it witnessed a few days ago, during the assault of the Rapid Support Forces. All kinds of crimes and human rights violations were committed during this attack, innocent civilians were murdered, detainees were executed in cold blood, and the elderly were tortured and humiliated.
The Seriha massacre was not the only one perpetrated in Al-Jazirah, which has been subjected to a systematic terror campaign by Rapid Support Forces in retaliation for the defection of its commander in the Al-Jazirah area, who has joined the army. The RSF took their anger out on innocent citizens, brutally attacking over 30 villages and killing large numbers of innocent men, women, and children. There have also been reports of the rape and abduction of women and girls, and citizens being held for ransom. Houses and crops were set on fire, and tens of thousands were forced to leave their villages in search of safety from RSF savagery.
All the reports and scenes from these areas were horrifying, and affirmed, once again, that oppressed citizens have become the primary target of the Rapid Support Forces. They kill and intimidate them, force them to flee, loot their possessions, and violate their dignity, as their leaders and spokespersons claim that the citizen is a red line that must not be crossed!!
These peaceful villages do not have army camps, nor are they military strategic sites. This a series of brutal acts of vengeance designed to instill fear and terror in the hearts of the citizens and displace them from their villages. The militia has consistently used this tactic in every area it enters.
The Rapid Support Forces may have also aimed, through this strategy of terror, to scatter army forces and disrupt its coordinated offensive, which had succeeded in liberating several strategic sites, pushing the RSF out. We have seen a coordinated media campaign organized by Rapid Support Forces and their supporters, entitled "Where is the Army?" This campaign sought to create internal public pressure on the armed forces.
As part of this systematic misinformation campaign, voices emerged claiming that the victims of the Al-Jazirah massacres were not unarmed civilians but militants. In truth, this is nothing but a desperate attempt to justify these heinous crimes. In any case, the residents of these villages did not seek confrontation with the Rapid Support Forces; rather, these forces came to their villages with the intent to kill, loot, and abuse them, using all the means of destruction and intimidation in their possession, including heavy weapons.
By any standards and law, these people have the right to defend themselves. We have seen viral clips in which many of those who tried to resist the assault were armed with nothing but sticks and machetes. Even if we were to assume that a small number of them had firearms, do they not have the right to defend their land, people, and honor?
The recent massacres in Al-Jazirah have shocked the people of Sudan and the world. Several countries, organizations, and bodies, including the United Nations (through its Resident and Humanitarian Coordinator in Sudan, Clementine Nkweta-Salami) have condemned these acts. Salami said that she was "shocked and utterly appalled," by the reports of the Rapid Support Forces indiscriminately shooting at civilians, committing acts of sexual violence against women and girls, looting markets and homes on a large scale, and subjecting many village residents to "physical assaults, humiliation, and threats" that forced them to flee their villages in search of safety. Al-Azhar Al-Sharif and the European Union also stressed the need to hold the perpetrators accountable.
These horrific practices are war crimes that cannot be forgotten with time or justified by any moral or humanitarian standard. The perpetrators must be held accountable. Moreover, anyone who supports these forces with arms and funding bears responsibility for these shameful crimes and human rights violations.
The evidence for these crimes is overwhelming, and everyone knows who perpetrated them and filmed them. The videos shock anyone with a conscience or a sense of honor. Thus, I am astonished by those who are blinded by political considerations and trying to twist the truth to score points and settle scores, sometimes by accusing the army of failing to defend citizens and at others by claiming that the citizens had been armed and "mobilized."
Amid this campaign, and at this particular time, it is not surprising to see some parties reiterate calls for international-African intervention in Sudan. The Sudanese scene has become an arena for maneuvers, there is no ceiling to protect the nation from the consequences.