GENEVA
The UN human rights chief on Thursday called for urgent action to prevent "large-scale, ethnically-driven attacks and atrocities" in El Fasher, the capital of Sudan's North Darfur region, where the Rapid Support Forces (RSF) have tightened a siege lasting more than 500 days.
"El Fasher is on the precipice of an even greater catastrophe if urgent measures are not taken to loosen the armed vice upon the city and to protect civilians," Volker Turk said in a statement.
At least 91 civilians were killed on Sept. 19-29 in RSF artillery fire, drone strikes, and ground incursions, according to the UN rights office. Repeated attacks on homes, markets, mosques, and community kitchens appear aimed at forcing mass displacement, including from the Abu Shouk camp for internally displaced people.
Turk warned of patterns of ethnically motivated violations, including sexual violence targeting ethnic Zaghawa women and girls, as seen during earlier RSF offensives. He urged safe, voluntary passage for civilians who cannot leave, such as the elderly and the sick, and demanded unhindered humanitarian access.
"With supplies dwindling daily and prices skyrocketing, civilians are on the brink of starvation," he said, condemning RSF restrictions and reports of torture and killings for smuggling food.
"Atrocities are not inevitable," the human rights chief stressed and added: "They can be averted if all actors take concrete action to uphold international law and protect civilian life."
El Fasher has witnessed intense fighting between the Sudanese army and the RSF since May 2024, despite international warnings about the risks of violence in a city that serves as a key humanitarian hub for the five Darfur states.
The RSF and the army have been locked in a brutal power struggle since April 2023, resulting in thousands of deaths and pushing Sudan into one of the world’s worst humanitarian crises.
More than 20,000 people have been killed and 15 million displaced, according to UN and local figures. However, US-based researchers estimate the actual death toll to be as high as 130,000.