The UN said last October's capture of el-Fasher in Sudan's Darfur region by the paramilitary Rapid Support Forces (RSF) showed "hallmarks of genocide."

That's according to the findings of the Independent International Fact-Finding Mission for the Sudan, which has been investigating the circumstances following the RSF takeover of el-Fasher.

At the time, extremely graphic footage — verified by various rights groups — showing mass killings and other atrocities being carried out by RSF members, was widely circulated. 

What did the fact-finding mission say?

"The scale, coordination, and public endorsement of the operation by senior RSF leadership demonstrate that the crimes committed in and around El Fasher were not random excesses of war," said the mission's chairman, Mohamad Chande Othman.

"They formed part of a planned and organized operation that bears the defining characteristics of genocide," Othman, who was also the former chief justice of Tanzania, said.

The fact-finding mission focused its attention on events in and around el-Fasher during the RSF capture of North Darfur's capital, following an 18-month siege that saw civilians cut off from basic necessities including food, water and medicine.

Genocidal intent 'the only reasonable inference'

The mission said that genocidal intent was "the only reasonable inference" from the RSF's "systematic pattern of ethnically targeted killings, sexual violence, destruction, and public statements explicitly calling for the elimination of non-Arab communities."

"The body of evidence we collected — including the prolonged siege, starvation and denial of humanitarian assistance, followed by mass killings, rape, torture and enforced disappearance, systematic humiliation and perpetrators' own declarations — leaves only one reasonable inference," said mission expert Mona Rishmawi.

Zaghawa and Fur ethnic groups targeted

"The RSF acted with intent to destroy, in whole or in part, the Zaghawa and Fur communities in el-Fasher. These are the hallmarks of genocide," Rishmawi said.

The Zaghawa and Fur groups are among the largest non-Arab ethnic communities in Sudan's western Darfur region.

Over the years, both have faced discrimination and have previously been targeted during waves of violence in the region since the early 2000s and many families had already been displaced multiple times before the current conflict.

Since April 2023, Sudan's army and the paramilitary RSF have been locked in fighting that has killed tens of thousands and displaced nearly 12 million.

Edited by: Dmytro Hubenko