RSF burned bodies to hide war crimes in El Fasher, Sudan

By Al Mayadeen English
Source: Al Mayadeen
Today 14:59

Sudan’s Doctors’ Union accuses the Rapid Support Forces of burning and burying hundreds of bodies in El Fasher to conceal evidence of genocide.

Listen

Rapid Support Forces personnel secure the area where Dagalo attends a military-backed tribe's rally, in the East Nile province, Sudan, on June 22, 2019. (AP)

The Sudanese Doctors’ Union revealed that the Rapid Support Forces (RSF) have collected hundreds of bodies in the city of El Fasher, North Darfur, burying some and burning others in what the group described as a deliberate attempt to conceal evidence of crimes committed against civilians.

In a statement released on Sunday, the civil society network condemned “one of the most horrific inhumane practices” witnessed in Sudan’s ongoing war, stressing that the atrocities in El Fasher “are not an isolated incident, but a new chapter in a fully-fledged genocide carried out by the RSF.”

The organization accused the paramilitary group of “disregarding all international and religious norms that forbid the mutilation of corpses and guarantee the dead a dignified burial,” holding the RSF “fully responsible for these massacres.”

It also urged the international community to take immediate action, calling for an independent international investigation into the crisis in El Fasher.

“The crisis has surpassed the threshold of a humanitarian disaster into a systematic genocide targeting people’s lives and dignity,” the network warned, decrying what it described as “a disgraceful international silence amounting to complicity.”

Evidence of mass atrocities

The revelations come amid mounting reports from humanitarian and research groups documenting large-scale atrocities in El Fasher, where the RSF seized control on October 26 after a siege of over 500 days and intense fighting.

According to the United Nations' Fact-Finding Mission and a recent Yale Humanitarian Research Lab report, the RSF has committed widespread killings, forced displacement, and ethnic persecution targeting non-Arab communities, including the Fur, Zaghawa, and Berti peoples. Satellite imagery shows mass graves, destroyed neighborhoods, and deliberate attacks on civilian areas.

The International Criminal Court (ICC) has confirmed it is collecting evidence of “mass killings, rapes, and other crimes” that may amount to war crimes and crimes against humanity.

El Fasher, once a refuge for tens of thousands displaced from other parts of Darfur, is now under siege conditions. Hospitals have been bombed or looted, food and medical aid blocked, and residents subjected to starvation tactics. Journalists and aid workers have also reported targeted attacks by RSF fighters.