Escalation of War in Sudan as Both Sides Target Civilians
Statement from the Sudanese Observatory for Human Rights
January 1, 2024
As the war between the Sudanese Armed Forces and the Rapid Support Forces enters its ninth month, and the conflict widens following the Rapid Support Forces takeover of Wad Madani, the capital of Al Jazirah State, and its surroundings, along with ongoing confrontations in Darfur states in western Sudan, the human rights situation in Sudan has reached a catastrophic level. The conditions for civilians have worsened significantly due to the continued military operations.
On December 29, the armed forces shelled the city of Nyala with explosive barrels, resulting in the death and injury of at least 118 civilians, as reported by eyewitnesses and human rights organizations. Simultaneously, intermittent attacks continued, accompanied by the killing of citizens in villages and towns in Al Jazirah, aimed at looting. The military intelligence also continued targeting political activists, relief volunteers, and human rights defenders across various Sudanese cities through arrests and torture.
Unlawful killings targeted numerous citizens in different cities, accusing them of collaborating with the Rapid Support Forces. The infrastructure in Khartoum, especially, suffered extensive damage that is challenging to repair. The Sudanese Observatory for Human Rights emphasizes the urgent need to immediately stop the war and protect civilians from its disastrous effects. The prolonged war in Sudan has cost Sudanese lives, displaced them, torn apart their social fabric, impoverished them, and stifled their aspirations for peace, freedom, and justice. The conflict that began on April 15 has turned into a war primarily directed against civilians.
In early December, the Data Locations and Conflict Events project recorded over 3,250 military battles and more than 12,190 deaths in Sudan, mostly civilians, since the outbreak of the war between the Sudanese Armed Forces and the Rapid Support Forces. This means an average of 4 deaths, mostly innocent civilians, in every battle fought by the warring parties. The United Nations Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs reported in December that more than 6.9 million people have been displaced within and outside Sudan since the war began. The report added that approximately 17.7 million people are at risk of severe food insecurity.
Systematic targeting of civilians, civilian infrastructure, and citizens property across Sudan
In November, the Rapid Support Forces seized control of most areas in Darfur, becoming the de facto authority in the region, except for its capital, El Fasher. However, the Rapid Support Forces and allied militias caused indescribable death and destruction in Darfur, which has been bleeding since 2003.
The most prominent violations and crimes include the killing of hundreds of civilians and the displacement of hundreds of thousands from West Darfur earlier this year. Overall, the Rapid Support Forces and allied militias committed numerous wide-scale crimes in West Darfur, some of which can be categorized as ethnic cleansing and genocide.
On December 29, the Sudanese Armed Forces committed a massacre in Nyala city, South Darfur, by dropping explosive barrels that claimed the lives of dozens, mostly civilians. Many cases of rape committed by the Rapid Support Forces were documented in Khartoum, Darfur, South Kordofan, and recently in Al Jazirah. Additionally, there were threats of rape for extortion and intimidation purposes. Rape crimes fall under the category of crimes against humanity, subjecting the perpetrators to international humanitarian law.
In the capital Khartoum, infrastructure was targeted, and Shambat Bridge was bombed on November 11, a crucial bridge for the citys residents, used by the Rapid Support Forces to connect the cities of Omdurman and Khartoum Bahri. Amid mutual accusations between the warring parties, the party that bombed the bridge targeted a civilian objective, violating international humanitarian law. In the southwest of Khartoum, Jebel Awlia Bridge over the White Nile was also bombed on November 18. As of now, the armed forces have not issued a statement clarifying their responsibility or denial for bombing these facilities. Instead, conflicting statements have been released by both sides, each attributing responsibility to the other.
The systematic targeting of civilians and their properties continued in Al Jazirah State after its takeover by the Rapid Support Forces in mid-December. Over 300,000 people were displaced, according to United Nations reports. The state witnessed various violations, including killings, attacks on citizens homes in the major city of Wad Madani, terrorizing residents, threatening their lives, seizing their cars, money, and properties, as well as looting markets, warehouses, and other economic facilities, including the warehouses of the United Nations World Food Programme.
Despite the top-level commitment of Rapid Support Forces leaders to protect civilians and return stolen property, especially cars, acts of robbery, looting, and intimidation continued unabated in all regions of Al Jazirah without restraint. The failure of Rapid Support Forces leaders to fulfill their promises can be attributed either to the leaderships inability to control its forces or a lack of seriousness in the commitments made to the local population.
On December 24, Rapid Support Forces entered the village of Um Duqris in northern Al Jazirah, searching for buried cars near the Blue Nile riverbed. They arrested four individuals who were later subjected to torture. In response, locals gathered to stop this violation, prompting Rapid Support Forces to open fire, resulting in the death of five civilians and numerous injuries. Attacks on villages and the theft of citizens cars persisted, particularly along the highway from Madani to southern Sennar and the western road between Madani and Khartoum. On the night of December 30, most residents of the city were forced to leave following the killing of three business owners in the market and a doctor returning from work by forces identified by citizens as belonging to the Rapid Support Forces.
Systematic Targeting of Human Rights Defenders and War Cessation Advocates
Through monitoring arrests conducted by military intelligence in several states, the Sudanese Observatory for Human Rights confirmed the systematic targeting of civilians, including human rights defenders, political activists, and resistance committees members, in areas under military control. For example, Ahmed Abu Harira Hassan, a 29-year-old leading member of the Liberal Democratic Party, a party within the Forces for Freedom and Change, was arrested by military intelligence on July 9, 2023, near Shendi city in the River Nile State, and his whereabouts remain unknown.
On December 27, military intelligence in Sennar State carried out arrest campaigns in Karkoj administrative unit and Dondi, detaining eleven individuals from political and civil forces and resistance committees, according to Karkoj Resistance Committees. Military intelligence in Singa also arrested several volunteers from the Emergency Room while providing meals to displaced people at the popular market in Singa. Additionally, military intelligence of the armed forces arrested Amer Aboud and Mujahid Anwar, both volunteers in the Emergency Rooms in Khartoum Bahri, on May 14. There are concerns for the lives of these detainees, especially after the governor of the River Nile State, Mohamed El Badowi, issued a statement on December 29 giving elements of the Forces for Freedom and Change 72 hours to leave the state. In several states in the north and east, there has been an increase in campaigns of racial discrimination and hate speech based on regional and ethnic grounds, threatening to turn the ongoing conflict into a comprehensive civil war.
Recommendations:
Immediately stop the war and find a peaceful solution to the Sudanese crisis.
Both parties must fully comply with the rules of international humanitarian law and human rights laws, hold violators accountable, cooperate fully with all entities investigating allegations of violations and breaches, including the United Nations Human Rights Councils fact-finding mission and the International Criminal Court.
Rapid Support Forces must immediately cease attacking safe cities and villages, withdraw from occupied areas, and refrain from expanding the war.
Rapid Support Forces must fully commit to controlling their forces in all deployment areas, especially in Al Jazirah State, investigate numerous attacks on civilians, and the armed forces must investigate all allegations of torture, ill-treatment, and murder during detention, taking measures to bring suspected perpetrators to justice in fair trials.
The armed forces must cease all indiscriminate aerial bombardment, halt the use of explosive barrels, especially in Darfur cities and Khartoum, and all regions inhabited by civilians. Allow relief workers safe access to victims of aerial bombardment and other civilians in all areas of Darfur, especially Nyala.
Both parties must refrain entirely from arming civilians due to the grave dangers and severe consequences that may lead to a comprehensive civil war.
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