The United Nations Office at Geneva
Multimedia Newsroom
Brutal attacks by the Rapid Support Forces (RSF) on the besieged city of El Fasher and the adjoining Abu Shouk camp for displaced persons in North Darfur, Sudan, resulted in the killing of at least 89 civilians over a 10-day period up to 20 August, the UN Human Rights Office said on Friday.
“We fear the actual number of civilians killed is likely higher,” spokesperson Jeremy Laurence told the biweekly press briefing in Geneva.
In the latest attacks documented by the UN Human Rights Office, between 16 and 20 August, at least 32 civilians were killed. At least 57 civilians were killed in previous attacks on 11 August.
“Such attacks are unacceptable and must cease immediately,” aid Laurence.
“We are particularly horrified that among the most recent spate of civilian killings, 16 appear to have been cases of summary executions. Most of the victims were killed in Abu Shouk camp and belonged to the African Zaghawa tribe, according to information gathered by our Office. In another case in the El Fasher area, a victim was asked which tribe he belonged to. He was killed after responding that he was from the African Berti tribe,” he added.
“This pattern of attacks on civilians and wilful killings, which are serious violations of international humanitarian law, deepens our concerns about ethnically motivated violence,” Laurence stressed.
He noted that the Office had also received disturbing reports from the ground that during attacks on 16 August at least 40 internally displaced men were abducted. Their whereabouts remain unknown.
“The humanitarian situation in El Fasher has reached a critical point after more than a year of siege. There is a growing risk of famine in both the city and other areas of North Darfur,” the spokesperson said.
In this context, accounts that those trying to deliver much-needed aid have once again come under attack were all the more appalling. On 20 August, a UN humanitarian convoy, consisting of 16 trucks carrying essential food supplies, was hit by aerial strikes in Mellit, North Darfur. This incident follows a previous attack on a UN humanitarian convoy in Al Koma, North Darfur, on 2 June.
Humanitarian assistance and workers are protected explicitly under international humanitarian law and must not be targeted. Laurence highlighted. Attacks on humanitarian efforts only worsens the human rights situation for civilians.
UN High Commissioner for Human Rights Volker Türks has called on all parties to the conflict to take concrete measures immediately to ensure the protection of civilians, including safe passage for those wishing to leave conflict-affected areas, and to facilitate unimpeded humanitarian assistance for those in need, Laurence concluded.
For more information and media requests, please contact
Jeremy Laurence: +41 22 917 9383 / jeremy.laurence@un.org
Marta Hurtado: marta.hurtadogomez@un.org
Tag and share - Twitter: @UNHumanRights and Facebook: unitednationshumanrights
STORY: UN Human Rights Spokesperson Jeremy Laurence on deadly attacks by the Rapid Support Forces in Sudan
TRT: SOURCE: OHCHR
RESTRICTIONS: NONE
LANGUAGE: English/NATS
ASPECT RATIO: 16:9
DATELINE: 22 August 2025 GENEVA, SWITZERLAND
SHOTLIST
- Exterior shot: Palais des Nations
- Interior shot: Briefing room
- SOUNDBITE (English)— Jeremy Laurence, Spokesperson for the Office of the UN High Commissioner for Human Rights (OHCHR): “We fear the actual number of civilians killed is likely higher. ”
- SOUNDBITE (English)— Jeremy Laurence, Spokesperson for the Office of the UN High Commissioner for Human Rights (OHCHR): “Such attacks are unacceptable and must cease immediately.”
- SOUNDBITE (English)— Jeremy Laurence, Spokesperson for the Office of the UN High Commissioner for Human Rights (OHCHR): “We are particularly horrified that among the most recent spate of civilian killings, 16 appear to have been cases of summary executions. Most of the victims were killed in Abu Shouk camp and belonged to the African Zaghawa tribe, according to information gathered by our Office. In another case in the El Fasher area, a victim was asked which tribe he belonged to. He was killed after responding that he was from the African Berti tribe.”
- SOUNDBITE (English)— Jeremy Laurence, Spokesperson for the Office of the UN High Commissioner for Human Rights (OHCHR): “This pattern of attacks on civilians and wilful killings, which are serious violations of international humanitarian law, deepens our concerns about ethnically motivated violence.”
- SOUNDBITE (English)— Jeremy Laurence, Spokesperson for the Office of the UN High Commissioner for Human Rights (OHCHR): “The humanitarian situation in El Fasher has reached a critical point after more than a year of siege. There is a growing risk of famine in both the city and other areas of North Darfur.”
Similar Stories
1
1
1
Edited News | UNICEF , WHO , OHCHR
In Sudan, sick and starving children ‘wasting away’ – UN humanitarians
Relentless violence, famine and disease are picking off Sudan’s children while attacks on healthcare and a lack of aid access hamper efforts to help them, UN humanitarian agencies warned on Tuesday.
1
1
1
Edited News | OHCHR , UNOG
UN High Commissioner for Human Rights Volker Türk on Monday gave an update to the Human Rights Council on the situation in El Fasher, Sudan.
1
1
1
Edited News | OHCHR , UNOG
“A series of new Israeli operations and settlement plans in the occupied West Bank, including East Jerusalem, risk seriously undermining the viability of a Palestinian state and the realisation of the Palestinians’ right to self-determination,” the UN Human Rights Spokesperson Thameen Al-Kheetan told the bi-weekly press conference in Geneva today.
1
1
1
Edited News | OHCHR , UNIS
UN voices concern over chemical spraying incident on Lebanon’s Blue Line
The UN reiterated concerns on Friday at reports that Israeli forces sprayed herbicide over areas north of the Blue Line separating Lebanon from Israel. The development poses a “serious humanitarian risk” to civilians living there, said the Office of the High Commissioner for Human Rights (OHCHR), briefing journalists in Geneva.
1
1
1
Edited News | WHO
Gaza: Five patients evacuated as Rafah reopens while ‘too many stayed behind’ – WHO
As time is running out for thousands of critically ill patients in Gaza, hope is alive for medical evacuations to increase with the reopening of the Rafah crossing in the southern part of the Strip, the World Health Organization (WHO) said on Tuesday.
1
1
1
Edited News | UNOG , OHCHR
This Sunday marks five years of crisis in Myanmar. Jeremy Laurence, spokesperson for the UN Human Rights, and James Rodehaver, chief of the Myanmar team, today spoke on the conduct of recent military-imposed elections, deploring the failure to respect the fundamental human rights of the country’s citizens. The process served only to exacerbate violence and societal polarization.
1
1
1
Edited News | UNICEF
Brutal Gaza war erased years of progress on education, in an “assault on the future itself” – UNICEF
Restoring Gaza’s shattered education system is “lifesaving” and getting children back into schools must be an immediate priority, the UN Children’s Fund (UNICEF) said on Tuesday.
1
1
1
Edited News | OHCHR , HRC
Volker Türk, the UN Human Rights High Commissioner, made the following remarks during a briefing to a Special Session on Iran at the Human Rights Council.
1
1
1
Edited News | UNRWA , UNOPS , UNIS
Amid the launch of President Trump's Board of Peace and reconstruction talks on Gaza, UN aid agencies insisted on Friday that what Gazans need most is immediate relief from the ongoing humanitarian catastrophe there.
2
6
1
2
Edited News , Press Conferences , Images | HRC
At UN, war crimes probe pledges to continue to work for all impacted by Hamas-Israel conflict
As President Trump launched the international Board of Peace plan for Gaza on Thursday, top independent rights experts tasked by the UN Human Rights Council with investigating grave abuses linked to the Hamas-Israel war pledged to continue their work seeking justice and accountability for all.
1
1
1
Edited News | OHCHR
UN Human Rights Office Spokesperson Ravina Shamdasani said Tuesday UN Human Rights Chief Volker Türk was outraged by the repeated large-scale attacks by the Russian Federation on energy infrastructure in Ukraine.
1
1
1
Edited News | OHCHR
UN warns against repeating abuses in South Kordofan that occurred in El Fasher.