Three months after fighting broke out between the regular Sudanese army and the Rapid Support Forces (RSF) in Khartoum, the Association for Threatened Peoples (APM, Associazione per i popoli minacciati) warns of the potential conflagration. Fighting has now spread to at least six parts of the country. In Khartoum, the situation of the civilian population is desperate. Medical care has collapsed, drinking water is scarce, and electricity runs only for hours. Since May, El Geneina has been at the center of clashes between the army and the RSF, allied with armed Arab militias. The violence has been escalating for weeks. Refugees trying to reach the border with Chad have been hit by bullets. Their bodies lie on the road between El Geneina and Adri. A source from the organization Doctors Without Borders calls El Geneina “the worst place in the world.”
Concerned about ethnic cleansing that could result in genocide, APM today joined other international human rights organizations, such as Jews Against Genocide, in an open letter to UN institutions and EU heads of state. Available reports suggest that RSFs and their allies are attacking civilians, hospitals, residential buildings, and humanitarian aid distribution points in a coordinated and systematic manner. The international community cannot stand idly by in the face of these crimes. It must now unequivocally name those responsible and act to end ethnic cleansing and prevent genocide. The RSF grew out of the Janjaweed militias. These were primarily responsible for the 2003 genocide in Darfur, which claimed up to 400,000 lives.
To date, more than 1,200 people are reported dead in West Darfur, as well as thousands injured. Hospitals are not operational. More than 100,000 people have fled across the border to Chad, many with gunshot wounds. Survivors report that non-Arabs are routinely attacked, especially Massalit members.
In the letter, international human rights organizations acknowledge that UNITAMS mission chief Volker Perthes and UN Special Rapporteur on the Prevention of Genocide Alice Wairimu Nderitu condemn the violence but do not clearly identify the role of the RSF. The recipients of the appeal must strongly condemn the militias’ crimes, those responsible must be held accountable, and measures must finally be taken to protect the civilian population. The Sudanese regular army is not doing so.
The open letter is addressed to the United Nations, the African Union, the EU and its member states. It was initiated by the organization Jews Against Genocide.
