Sudan’s civil war has reached a new tipping point after the paramilitary Rapid Support Forces (RSF) took control of al-Fashar, the army’s last stronghold in the western Darfur region, prompting the International Criminal Court to suspect war crimes.
The ICC Office of the Prosecutor (OTP) on Monday expressed “grave concern and deep concern” about al-Fashar’s reports of mass killings, rapes and other crimes allegedly committed by al-Fasher.
“As part of the ongoing investigation, the Office is taking immediate steps to preserve and collect relevant evidence for use in future prosecutions in relation to the crimes alleged in (al-Fashar),” ICC prosecutors said in a statement.
El-Fashar atrocities part of ‘a wider pattern’
The ICC warned on Monday about the situation in al-Fashar, which the RSF captured after an 18-month siege. The ICC Prosecutor’s Office addressed reports regarding a number of crimes committed at the hands of paramilitary rebels.
“These atrocities are part of a broader pattern of violence that has affected the entire Darfur region since April 2023,” the office said in a statement.
“Such acts, if certified, could constitute war crimes and crimes against humanity under the Rome Statute,” it said, referencing the founding text of the ICC.
According to the United Nations, more than 65,000 people have fled al-Fashar, including about 5,000 to the nearby town of Tawila. However, thousands of people remain trapped and others are still missing after escaping.
Before the last attack, approximately 260,000 people lived in the city.
Red Cross warns of ‘history repeating’ in Darfur
Meanwhile, the head of the Red Cross said history was repeating itself in Darfur.
On Friday, the UN human rights office said hundreds of civilians and unarmed fighters may have been killed during the city’s fall.
“The situation in Sudan is catastrophic,” Mirjana Spoljaric, president of the International Committee of the Red Cross (ICRC), told the Reuters news agency in a weekend interview.
“This is history being repeated and it becomes worse whenever another party takes over a place,” he said.
According to Spoljarić, thousands of people fled al-Fashar after the RSF captured the city, and potentially thousands more were trapped there without access to food, water or medical aid.
The crackdown on Darfur rebels in the 2000s followed years of ethnically motivated violence, resulting in hundreds of thousands of deaths, a situation that was widely labeled as genocide. The RSF has its roots in the “Zanjaweed” militias mobilized by the government in Khartoum at the time.
What is the role of foreign players in Sudan?
The UAE has been repeatedly accused of supporting the RSF, but has denied doing so. Meanwhile, military officials also have foreign supporters, including Egypt.
When asked about his message to alleged foreign supporters of the parties involved in the conflict, Spoljarić said: “Especially those states that have influence over the parties to the conflict have a responsibility to take the necessary steps to control them and ensure that they protect the civilian population.”
The conflict in Sudan, which began in April 2023, has killed thousands and displaced nearly 12 million people, resulting in the world’s largest displacement and hunger crisis.
Edited by: Rana Taha, Zack Crellin