UN Human Rights High Commissioner Volker Türk oral update on Sudan, El Fasher at the Human Rights Council

“The events that unfolded in El Fasher in Sudan last October were a preventable human rights catastrophe. After imposing 18 months of siege, starvation and bombardment, the Rapid Support Forces unleashed a wave of intense violence, in which thousands of people were killed in a matter of days, and tens of thousands fled in terror. Our collective job is to hold those responsible accountable, and to make sure this never happens again,” he said.

He said since he last briefed the Human Rights Council on El Fasher, he had visited Sudan and heard firsthand accounts from some of those who survived that final offensive. He said he had rarely seen people so traumatized by their experiences.

“They consistently reported mass killings and summary executions of civilians and those no longer participating in hostilities, both inside the city and as people fled. They spoke of rape and other sexual violence, torture and ill-treatment, detention, disappearances and abductions for ransom” he said.

In one horrific example, he said, people who fled to separate locations, thousands of kilometres apart, gave consistent accounts of the mass killing of hundreds of people sheltering at El Fasher University. Others spoke of attacks on health facilities and healthcare workers.

“We heard convincing testimony that some victims were targeted based on their non-Arab ethnicity – in particular, members of the Zaghawa ethnic group. Survivors also spoke of seeing piles of dead bodies along roads leading away from El Fasher, in an apocalyptic scene that one person likened to the Day of Judgment,” the High Commissioner said.

“Sexual violence was systematically used as a weapon of war by the RSF and its allied militia. During my visit, I met survivors who gave consistent and harrowing testimony of gang rape and other sexual violence against women and girls. My staff documented many accounts of sexual violence during abductions and searches of women and girls as they attempted to flee” he stated.

One of the victims told the UN Human Rights Chief at the Al Afad internally displaced people’s camp: “So, while the father was trying to prevent the rape, he killed the father. And he shot the brother as well. They cut the clothes of the female, all the girls, they cut their clothes and left them naked”

RSF fighters and their allies abducted people as they fled and charged exorbitant ransoms for their release. Most victims were men and adolescent boys judged to be of fighting age, but women and children were also targeted. Thousands remain missing. Some were undoubtedly killed; others are believed to be held in inhumane detention conditions, subjected to torture and ill-treatment. Thousands were reportedly transferred to Tagris prison in Nyala, South Darfur, where we know conditions are horrendous.

The RSF and its allies detained people perceived to be affiliated with the Sudanese Armed Forces and their allied Joint Forces, government officials, medical professionals, journalists, teachers, and local humanitarian volunteers. Former detainees reported that more than 2,000 men were held in El Fasher Children’s Hospital. Those who died in detention were reportedly buried near the hospital.

“My staff also documented the recruitment and use of children by the RSF, either through pressure on communities, or through direct coercion. The International Criminal Court told the Security Council last month that it assessed that both war crimes and crimes against humanity had taken place in El Fasher during the culmination of the RSF’s siege of the city.”

Türk added.

“My Office sounded the alarm about the risk of mass atrocities in the besieged city of El Fasher for more than a year. We had previously documented patterns of such atrocities several times, including during the RSF offensive to capture Zamzam camp for displaced people in April 2025. The threat was clear, but our warnings were ignored. Responsibility for these atrocity crimes lies squarely with the RSF and their allies and supporters,” the Human rights chief said.

The High Commissioner called on the international community to do better. If we stand by, wringing our hands while armies and armed groups commit well-flagged international crimes, we can only expect worse to come, he said.

“In fact, I am extremely concerned that these violations and abuses may be repeated in the Kordofan region. Fighting there has intensified since the capture of El Fasher. In the last two weeks, the Sudanese Armed Forces and allied Joint Forces broke the sieges on Kadugli and Dilling. But drone strikes by both sides continue, resulting in dozens of civilian deaths and injuries. Civilians are at risk of summary executions, sexual violence, arbitrary detention, and family separation,” he warned.

All countries need to get behind these concrete steps to protect civilians and de-escalate violence and pressure the parties to abide by their legal obligations.

This starts with commitments not to target civilians or residential areas with explosive weapons; to take steps to reduce harm to civilians; to enable the unimpeded delivery of humanitarian aid; to end arbitrary detention; and to treat those deprived of liberty humanely and in accordance with international law, he said.

“And it means ending attacks on civilian infrastructure. During my visit, I witnessed the damage done by RSF attacks on Merowe dam and hydroelectric power station, which once supplied 70 percent of Sudan’s electricity. Repeated drone strikes have disrupted power and water supplies to huge numbers of people, with a serious impact on healthcare,” said the High Commissioner.

“During my visit to Sudan, one thing became very clear to me: The spirit of the struggle for peace, justice and freedom is still very much alive. The Sudanese people hold the key to sustainable peace in their country, and they will prevail,” he concluded.

ENDS

For more information and media requests, please contact:

In Geneva

Jeremy Laurence: +41 22 917 9383 / jeremy.laurence@un.org

Marta Hurtado: +41 22 917 9466 / marta.hurtadogomez@un.org

Thameen Al-Kheetan: +41 22 917 4232 / thameen.alkheetan@un.org

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