Sudan: Rapid Support Forces Target Civilians

(Nairobi) – The armed group Rapid Support Forces (RSF) has killed, injured and illegally detained scores of civilians and raped women and girls in attacks in Sudan’s Al Gezira state, Human Rights Watch said today. Given the scale and severity of the threat to civilians, it is vital for the UK to use its presidency of the UN Security Council in November to press for UN action to deploy a mission to protect civilians in Sudan.

Since the defection of a leading RSF ally in eastern Al Gezira on October 20, 2024, the RSF has attacked at least 30 villages and towns, which is certainly an underestimate, including Rufaa, Tamboul, Al-Sireha and Azrag. According to the United Nations, over 130,000 people have fled the attacks to other parts of Sudan.

“This recent massive increase in the Rapid Support Forces’ heinous attacks on civilians should shatter any lingering hopes that these crimes will stop without a strong global response,” said Mohamed Osman, Sudan researcher at Human Rights Watch. “The minimal measures taken by the UN Security Council clearly fail to protect civilians. The deployment of a civilian protection mission must be urgently approved.”

The RSF took control of Wad Madani, the state capital of Al Gezira, in December 2023 in an ongoing conflict with the Sudan Armed Forces (SAF) and has since committed serious abuses in the state, including sexual violence and killings. On October 20, Abu Agla Keikel, the commander of an allied RSF force in the state, defected to the SAF, triggering this surge in retaliatory attacks on civilians, including those from Keikel’s tribe.

While communications and access restrictions make real-time reporting difficult, Human Rights Watch interviewed six people, including witnesses and local human rights monitors, to provide the first glimpse into the events. Human Rights Watch also reviewed two videos showing RSF detaining men in the village of Al-Sihera and reviewed satellite images of possible new burial sites in the village.

A 55-year-old woman from Tamboul said the RSF fighters fired on houses as they entered the city on October 22. The armed forces rounded up men and boys near their home. “I saw an RSF soldier shoot a man in the chest,” she said. “They kept shouting at us to leave the city. They said whoever stays here will not be considered a civilian.”

Another resident said the fighters came to his house the same day: “The RSF soldiers were angry…they kept asking me if I was related to Keikel or if I knew where his family was.” They threatened to kill anyone who was related to him.” According to the Sudan Protection Cluster, clashes broke out between the RSF and the SAF in Tamboul on October 23. The cluster reported that about 300 civilians died in the attacks and fighting.

On October 25 and 26, the RSF attacked the village of Al-Sireha, clashing with some armed residents and reportedly leaving 124 civilians dead and over 200 injured. When a local resident entered the village on the morning of October 25, he saw RSF vehicles with mounted guns firing rocket-propelled grenades. He fled later that day. “We saw piles of bodies, including two children, near one of the irrigation canals,” he said.

According to local observers, the RSF arrested over 150 people in Al-Sireha. Two videos posted on Facebook on October 26 and reviewed by Human Rights Watch show RSF fighters arresting about 100 men in the village of Al-Sireha.

The first video shows at least 68 men arrested at the northwest intersection of the village. About 20 of them are sitting on the ground, some with blood-stained clothing. The RSF soldier filming them says in Arabic: “Keikel… look, these are your people” and forces the prisoners to imitate animal noises.

A second video filmed by the same soldier shows six RSF soldiers and 26 unarmed, detained men, including several elderly men, in a field on the western side of the village. Many of those arrested appear to have their hands tied behind their backs, and two men arrested are wearing bloodstained clothing. Human Rights Watch was unable to determine what happened to the prisoners.

RSF fighters also reportedly subjected women and girls to sexual violence in these attacks. As of November 4, the Strategic Initiative for Women in the Horn of Africa, a regional women’s rights group, had documented 25 cases of rape and gang rape by the RSF, including 10 girls among the victims. The human rights group also documented at least six cases in which survivors of sexual violence subsequently died by suicide. On October 30, the United Nations, citing local health authorities, said that “more than 27 women and girls between the ages of 6 and 60” had been subjected to “rape and sexual assault.”

Hassan, 51, whose full name is withheld for his protection, fled Al-Sireha on October 22 with his wife and three daughters. The RSF stopped them at a checkpoint: “One of the RSF soldiers looked at my youngest daughter, who is 15 years old, and said, ‘Leave her so we can enjoy her and you can go.’ They started making sexual comments about my daughter.” Hassan and his family managed to escape.

Human rights groups and media said they had received reports of widespread looting in eastern Al Gezira. These attacks worsen the already dire humanitarian situation, which has been exacerbated by the SAF’s ongoing restrictions on access to RSF-controlled areas and RSF looting.

The United Kingdom is the penholder for Sudan on the UN Security Council and will hold the presidency in November. During this time, the Council will discuss how to better protect civilians in Sudan, according to a report by the UN Secretary-General in October. Given the massive increase in brutal attacks on civilians, there is an urgent need for the United Kingdom, working with African Union Member States, to urge the Security Council to authorize a civilian protection mission for Sudan. UN member states should also increase support for the UN independent international fact-finding mission to Sudan, the Secretary-General recommended.

“The UK must step up as Sudan’s steward at this moment of crisis and ensure that the calls of those in urgent need of protection in Sudan are not ignored,” Osman said. “Global and regional leaders cannot afford to be out in force given the alarming trends.”