United Nations: El Fasher Massacre Has Hallmarks of Genocide

On 19 February 2026, the Independent International Fact-Finding Mission for the Sudan published a new report establishing that at least three underlying acts of genocide were committed in El Fasher when Rapid Support Forces (RSF) captured the city in late October 2025.

On 26 October 2025, after some eighteen months of siege, El Fasher, the capital of North Darfur, fell to the paramilitary RSF. The fall follows days of bombardment and the withdrawal of the Sudanese Armed Forces (SAF) and allied groups. The takeover of El Fasher is said to have unleashed atrocity crimes, including targeted ethnic violence, extrajudicial killings and executions.

In 2025, the Independent International Fact-Finding Mission for the Sudan was specifically instructed by the UN to assess the evidence of the crimes committed in El Fasher, which ultimately resulted in the publication of the new report.

Among others, the report found that:

• 'The evidence establishes a widespread and systematic pattern by the Rapid Support Forces of killings, ethnically targeted rape and other forms of sexual and gender-based violence, arbitrary detention, torture and cruel treatment, enforced disappearances, extortion, and forced displacement, combined with the deliberate imposition of conditions of life incompatible with survival, including starvation and the destruction of medical care. These acts were committed with knowledge, organisation, and repetition, and were accompanied by dehumanising and exterminatory language.'

• 'Taken together, the scale, severity, and cumulative impact of the acts by the Rapid Support Forces, assessed in light of patterns of targeting, conduct, and inferred intent, present indications pointing to genocide in and around El Fasher.'

• 'Crimes against humanity, notably extermination and persecution on ethnic, gender and political grounds, as well as war crimes, including murder, torture, rape and other forms of sexual violence, outrages upon personal dignity, starvation, and attacks against civilians, the wounded and sick, and persons hors de combat, as well as protected objects were committed. They underscore the gravity and multi-layered criminality of the conduct documented.'

• 'The atrocities committed in and around El Fasher are aggravations of earlier patterns of violence in Darfur, including those previously documented by the Mission in Zamzam camp and elsewhere, demonstrating continuity and escalation. In the absence of effective prevention and accountability, the Mission considers that the risk of further genocidal violence remains acute.'

• 'Earlier warnings about the risk of atrocities in El-Fasher did not yield concrete results in protecting civilians. As the conflict now moves further, in particular to Kordofan, marked by the same modus operandi, the international community must act decisively to prevent further atrocities, hold the perpetrators of international crimes to account, and bring an end to this senseless violence.'

The Coalition of Genocide Response called upon States to implement, as a matter of urgency, all recommendations of the Independent International Fact-Finding Mission for the Sudan, including to:

• (a) Protect civilians and prevent further atrocities, including by fully enforcing and expanding the arms embargo, preventing the transfer of weapons, equipment, financial and logistical support to parties credibly implicated in serious violations, and using all available diplomatic, political, and preventive tools to halt further mass violence.

• (b) Secure unrestricted humanitarian access into El-Fasher and the guarantee of free movement of the remaining civilian population there.

• (c) Ensure accountability and deter further crimes, including through targeted sanctions against those who aid or abet the commission of international crimes, by fully cooperating with the International Criminal Court and expanding its jurisdiction, and

  considering the establishment of a judicial mechanism working in tandem with the Court to advance accountability for perpetrators at all levels and ensure justice for victims.

• (d) Support survivors, including through interim reparatory measures and sustained access to medical, psychosocial, and legal assistance.

• (e) Encourage the documentation of violations and the preservation of evidence for accountability processes, including ensuring access for investigative bodies, including the Fact-Finding Missionfor the Sudan, into El Fasher to document and preserve evidence and ascertain the fate of missing and detained persons.

• (f) Ensure protection for lawyers, human rights defenders, humanitarian workers, medical workers, journalists and civil society actors, who remain at grave risk.

• (g) End the suffering of the Sudanese people and align with their aspirations for justice, stability and prosperity in the design of any peace process and embed justice in peace processes through a comprehensive approach to transitional justice.