NEW YORK - The UN Fact-Finding Mission on Sudan expressed today grave alarm at escalating atrocities surrounding the fall of El Fasher to the Rapid Support Forces (RSF), having gathered direct and harrowing testimonies from survivors that reveal systematic and ongoing attacks against civilians.
Despite immense challenges in accessing information, initial investigations point to a deliberate pattern of ethnically targeted executions of unarmed civilians, assaults, sexual violence, widespread looting and destruction of vital infrastructure, and mass forced displacement.
"As El Fasher burns and millions face starvation, the world must choose between silence or solidarity," said Mohamed Chande Othman, chair of the Fact-Finding Mission. "Since the siege of El Fasher and the surrounding camps, and following the RSF's takeover of the city, the humanitarian crisis has deepened in real time. We must ensure that the cries of Sudan's victims echo not into a void, but into action."
The fall of El Fasher marks a devastating turning point in Sudan's war: a city already crippled by eighteen months of siege, starvation, and relentless bombardment has now descended into fear and chaos. Tens of thousands of civilians remain trapped, enduring constant shelling, hunger, and despair, while others fled El Fasher-many on foot and without basic necessities -while humanitarian relief continues to be obstructed and denied.
Othman said the Fact-Finding Mission's mandate, which was renewed by the UN Human Rights Council in September for an additional year, "is not just a procedural extension -It is a lifeline for accountability and a signal that the world is watching."
The Fact-Finding Mission's latest report - published today and to be presented to the UN General Assembly in New York the same day - details a devastating pattern of atrocities by both warring parties, including war crimes of violence to life and person, outrages on personal dignity, and intentional attacks on civilians. It found reasonable grounds to believe both sides have subjected civilians to serious violations of human rights and international humanitarian law, amounting to atrocity crimes, while depriving them of genuine justice.
Entitled "Paths to Justice: Accountability for Atrocities in Sudan," the report found that entrenched impunity remains one of the principal drivers of ongoing violence. The demands of victims can no longer be ignored and that accountability is both urgent and achievable, it said.
With justice in Sudan is being systematically obstructed and all warring parties unwilling or unable to investigate or prosecute grave crimes, the report urged the international community to create an independent and impartial judicial body to end decades of impunity and prosecute those responsible for the most serious crimes under international law. The new judicial institution, the Mission said, should work in partnership with the International Criminal Court.
Given the magnitude of violations committed, the report also called for the expansion of the International Criminal Court's jurisdiction across Sudan, the establishment of a specific victim support and reparations office for Sudan backed by a dedicated trust fund, and technical training and capacity-building for those involved in documenting violations and crimes.
The ferocious conflict has dragged on for over two years with no end in sight. Fighting has trapped countless civilians between the warring parties, including in the siege and ultimate takeover of El Fasher and surrounding areas of North Darfur.
The Rapid Support Forces have been implicated in ethnically targeted attacks, rape and sexual violence, starvation tactics, and the destruction of essential infrastructure, amounting to starvation as a prohibited method of warfare. Its systematic and large-scale conduct also amounts to crimes against humanity such as persecution, and potentially extermination.
The report highlights systemic failures in domestic accountability leading to selective justice and impunity, the collapse of the judicial independence, and gender-based repression. It called for the immediate implementation of accountability measures to tackle impunity and address root causes of recurring conflict with a roadmap based on truth, justice, reparations and legal and institutional reforms.
"The atrocities we are documenting are often part of broader campaigns that have the effect of terrorizing communities. They are enabled by lack of accountability for previous crimes and a justice system that has been dismantled and replaced with impunity," said Mona Rishmawi, Fact-Finding Mission Member. "Justice, truth, and reparations require institutions that protect the Sudanese people rather than shield those responsible for their suffering. The international community must act decisively to close the accountability gap."
The conviction of Ali Kushayb on 6 October by the International Criminal Court represents a landmark legal breakthrough - the first international judgment on atrocity crimes committed in Sudan. With reparations proceedings now anticipated, the case signals a pivotal moment for justice and accountability.
The collapse of the rule of law has fueled the conflict, as has the February 2025 constitutional amendment delaying the transition to civilian rule, and by the Rapid Support Forces' opaque parallel justice structures.
"The Sudanese people have shown extraordinary resilience," said Joy Ngozi Ezeilo, Member of the Fact-Finding Mission. "They ask not for pity, but for solidarity - solidarity that turns words into action and resolutions into justice."
Read the full report in English and Arabic.
Background: The Independent International Fact-Finding Mission for the Sudan was established by the UN Human Rights Council in October 2023 through resolution A/HRC/RES/54/2, and its mandate was extended until October 2025 with resolution A/HRC/RES/57/2; and until October 2026 with resolution A/HRC/60/2. Its key task is "to investigate and establish the facts, circumstances and root causes of all alleged human rights violations and abuses and violations of international humanitarian law, including those committed against refugees, and related crimes in the context of the ongoing armed conflict that began on 15 April 2023, between the Sudanese Armed Forces and the Rapid Support Forces, as well as other warring parties."
