The United Nations has assessed that the Rapid Support Forces (RSF) committed genocide in Sudan, focusing on atrocities carried out during and around the siege and fall of El Fasher in Darfur.

In a report released to the UN Human Rights Council, the UN Independent International Fact-Finding Mission for Sudan said it found “hallmarks of genocide” and concluded that the RSF acted with the intent to destroy, in whole or in part, non-Arab communities—particularly the Zaghawa and Fur—during the fighting.

The mission linked the findings to evidence that included ethnically targeted killings and other atrocities, including widespread sexual violence, enforced disappearances, torture and cruel treatment, and mass killings after the city was taken. The report also described an 18-month siege in which civilians faced deliberate deprivation of basic necessities, including food, water, medical care, and humanitarian access—conditions the mission said were calculated to bring about physical destruction.

The mission said the conduct showed coordination and an organised pattern rather than “random excesses,” pointing to identity-based targeting tied to ethnicity, gender, and perceived political affiliation, alongside rhetoric from senior RSF leadership calling for elimination of non-Arab communities.

The report warned that, without prevention and accountability, the risk of further genocidal acts remained serious and ongoing, and urged urgent civilian protection as the conflict continues to spread across other regions of Sudan.