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More than 1,000 civilians were killed in a three-day attack by the Rapid Support Forces paramilitary group on western Sudan’s largest displacement camp earlier this year, the UN human rights office said in a report released on Thursday.
The RSF attacked the Zamzam camp in April as part of its siege of the city of al-Fashar, the provincial capital of North Darfur province.
According to reports, hundreds of people were given death sentence in the attack. People House-to-house raids and killings took place in the main market, as well as in schools and health facilities. The report details a pattern of sexual violence, including “rape and gang rape and sexual slavery.”
The report called it “a continuing pattern of serious violations of international humanitarian law and gross abuse of international human rights law.” It comes in a few weeks Amnesty International The RSF were accused of committing war crimes in the attack on the camp.
Before the April attacks Zamzam was the largest displacement camp in Sudan, with more than 500,000 people. The UN report said the RSF had blocked entry of food and other essential goods into Zamzam camp for months before the attack.
The Zamzam camp was established in 2004 to shelter people driven from their homes due to attacks by the Sudanese Janjaweed militia. Located just south of el-Fashr, it has grown over the years to cover an area up to 8 kilometers (5 mi) long and about 3 kilometers (2 mi) wide.
The RSF has been at war with the Sudanese army since April 2023. The conflict has killed 40,000 people – although some rights groups say the death toll is much higher – and created the world’s worst humanitarian crisis, with more than 14 million people displaced. There is famine in many areas including Zamzam camp.
UN High Commissioner for Human Rights Volker Turk said, “The findings contained in this report are another stark reminder of the need for urgent action to end the cycle of torture and violence, and to ensure accountability and reparations for victims.”
Turks warned that patterns of violence in Zamzam were being repeated in al-Fashar now that the RSF had taken control of the city.
Turki said, “These appalling patterns of violations – committed with impunity – are consistent with what my office has repeatedly documented, including during the RSF takeover of el-Fashar in late October.”
Separately, Sudan’s top general met Egyptian President Abdel-Fattah el-Sisi cairo Amid growing pressure to resolve the war in Sudan, on Thursday…
Burhan meets al-Sisi after Sudanese general’s talks with Saudi officials Riyadh Earlier this week. US Ambassador Massad Boulos was also in Riyadh at the same time and met with Saudi officials. No public announcement was made about Burhan’s meeting with the American official.
Boulos said Wednesday after meeting with Saudi officials, including Saudi Foreign Minister Prince Faisal bin Farhan, an agreement was reached with Saudi Arabia on “practical steps towards a humanitarian ceasefire, durable stability and expanded humanitarian access and assistance to the Sudanese people.”
The United States and Saudi Arabia are both mediators, part of a grouping known as the Quad, along with Egypt and united arab emirates,
Burhan had earlier rejected the ceasefire proposal in November, calling it unacceptable and “the worst ever” – and accused mediators of being “biased” in their efforts to end the war.
In a statement after the meeting, the Egyptian President reaffirmed his support for Sudan, but rejected “the establishment of any parallel entities or their recognition as a violation of Sudan’s unity and territorial integrity”, and said there are “red lines” that cannot be crossed. The RSF announced a parallel government called the Tacis Alliance in July.
The statement also said Egypt “affirms its full right to take all necessary measures and actions guaranteed by international law and the joint defense agreement between the two brotherly countries to ensure that these red lines are not violated or crossed.”