Sudan Links US Peace Roadmap Acceptance to Full RSF Withdrawal from Cities
UN investigators have submitted additional survivor testimony confirming that the Rapid Support Forces (RSF) committed genocide in el-Fasher in the Sudan conflict, while Sudan’s government has tied acceptance of a US peace roadmap to full RSF withdrawal from cities, amid ongoing drone strikes and cholera outbreaks in Kordofan that are worsening the humanitarian crisis. [2][1][4]
UN Evidence of Genocide in el-Fasher
The United Nations Fact-Finding Mission for Sudan released a new tranche of survivor testimony from the fall of Darfur's el-Fasher. [2] The mission said its evidence base had grown to 333 survivor interviews, up from 320 in February. [2] The new material reaffirmed the conclusion that the RSF’s October takeover of the North Darfur capital bore the hallmarks of genocide. [2] The mission reaffirmed that three of the underlying acts of genocide were overwhelmingly present in and around el-Fasher during the RSF operations: killing members of the group, causing serious bodily or mental harm, and deliberately inflicting conditions of life calculated to destroy the group. [2] Genocidal intent could be inferred from the scale of the killing, the ethnically charged language used by commanders and fighters, and the pattern of sparing Arab civilians while killing, raping or detaining non-Arabs. [2] The mission is now examining whether the pattern of mass rape, forced pregnancy and denial of reproductive healthcare could amount to a fourth genocidal act under Article II(d) of the Genocide Convention. [2]
Specific Survivor Testimonies of Atrocities
One previously undisclosed account described RSF fighters storming a takiya on 26 October, killing men, women and children inside. [2] As the survivor tried to flee with her husband, fighters raped her; when the husband tried to intervene, one of them slit his throat with a knife, killing him on the spot. [2] Investigators also learned that RSF fighters raped women at the El Saudi Hospital after storming its wards and killing the wounded sheltering there. [2] In Shagra, a witness described RSF fighters halting a group of civilians trying to escape and raping between 15 and 20 women and girls, some as young as 13; one woman in her seventies later died from her injuries. [2] On the road to Tawila, one survivor recounted being intercepted along with a group of women by RSF fighters who separated out several to rape while forcing the rest to watch, telling them: "Sit here until we 'marry' your sister." [2] Survivors also reported new instances of rape by insertion of a sharp object that led to the death of at least one victim, and one witness recalled perpetrators laughing during an assault. [2] The mission documented killings of women who resisted rape or tried to protect relatives. [2] In one case a mother was shot dead on the road to Tawila after trying to stop fighters taking her daughters. [2] In another, two young women held with a group of abducted women and girls were killed immediately after resisting an attempted rape. [2] A witness described watching RSF fighters tie the hands of three girls she knew, force them into a vehicle and drive off. [2] New quotes attributed to RSF fighters included "The Rapid Support Forces are above everything" and "Any Zaghawa we will capture will not survive the night," which investigators said reinforced their finding that ethnicity was a primary criterion behind the killings and rapes. [2] The mission learned that thousands of people detained while fleeing el-Fasher were first held in the city itself in schools, the El Saudi Hospital and former government buildings, before being transferred toward the end of 2025 to Nyala, where they were placed in the city's main prison, known as Daqris. [2] At a former children's hospital in el-Fasher used as a detention and execution site, detainees forced to drink contaminated water contracted cholera, resulting in multiple deaths in custody. [2]
UN investigators submit additional survivor testimony confirming RSF genocide in Sudan's el-Fasher. — Source: middleeasteye
Foreign Complicity and Legal Implications
The mission set out the potential complicity of states that continued to arm or otherwise support the RSF. [2] It said states that provided military, financial, logistical or intelligence support despite knowledge of a serious risk of genocide could be found in breach of their duty to prevent genocide under Article I of the Genocide Convention, and in some circumstances could face questions of complicity under Article III(e). [2] The mission noted that Sudan had already tried to bring a genocide case against the UAE at the International Court of Justice, but the proceedings did not go forward because the UAE had entered a reservation to Article IX of the Genocide Convention excluding the court's jurisdiction over such disputes. [2] The mission pointed out that other states supplying the RSF had not necessarily made that reservation, leaving them potentially exposed to similar claims. [2] The obligation to prevent arises at the instant a State learns of, or should normally have learned of, the existence of a serious risk that genocide may be committed. [2] It is an obligation of conduct rather than result, requiring States to employ all means reasonably available to them, within their capacity to influence the relevant actors, to prevent the commission of genocide. [2] The mission called for an immediate halt to any weapons, ammunition or logistical support reaching the RSF and its allies in violation of the existing arms embargo. [2] Investigators identified foreign fighters among the RSF ranks who took part in acts of sexual violence, alongside Sudanese fighters identified by their distinctive sandy-coloured uniforms. [2]
Sudan’s Position on US Peace Roadmap
Sudan ties acceptance of US peace roadmap to RSF withdrawal from all cities. [1] A government document proposes a 90-day humanitarian truce, UN-monitored RSF pullout before indirect ceasefire talks, two senior Sudanese officials told Anadolu. [1]
UN investigators document RSF genocide evidence in el-Fasher, Sudan. — Source: france24
Drone Attacks and Disease Outbreaks in Kordofan
OCHA is deeply concerned by ongoing drone attacks and disease outbreaks in Sudan’s Kordofan region. [4] In North Kordofan State, local sources reported that on Monday, a drone strike targeted a civilian vehicle near Al-Shaatut village, east of Jabrat Al-Sheikh, causing civilian casualties and damage. [4] The following day, another drone reportedly struck a water truck in Hamrat Al-Sheikh, leaving civilian casualties and further disrupting access to essential water supplies. [4] Cholera also continues to spread across Kordofan. [4] On Wednesday, humanitarian partners reported a suspected case in El Obeid, in North Kordofan, where continued drone attacks have led to severe water shortages. [4] Currently, the water supply can meet only 20 per cent of the city's needs. [4] The UN and its partners continue to respond to the cholera outbreak. [4] The WHO reports that cholera response supplies were prepositioned in El Obeid and that a cholera treatment centre has been established in the city. [4] For the broader humanitarian response, OCHA has already allocated more than $4 million through the Sudan Humanitarian Fund to partners to provide critical relief to communities in El Obeid. [4] This will support food security, nutrition, healthcare, water and sanitation, and protection services and mine action. [4] In South Kordofan State, UNICEF reported that health supplies have been delivered to the city of Abu Jubaiha to support both emergency and routine health services for some 240,000 people across the area. [4] OCHA remains grateful for the continued support of donors for the humanitarian response in Sudan and calls once again for increased, timely and flexible funding. [4] The 2026 Humanitarian Response Plan is less than a third funded, with $930 million received to date of the nearly $2.9 billion required. [4]
Broader Humanitarian Impact of the Conflict
The war, largely backed by foreign powers, has killed thousands over the past three years, displaced more than 13 million, and driven more than 19.5 million people to the brink of famine, prompting what the UN and European Union have described as the world's largest humanitarian and displacement crisis. [2] The FFMS is an independent investigative mechanism established by the UN Human Rights Council to document violations of international human rights and humanitarian law committed during Sudan's war, which broke out between the RSF and Sudanese Armed Forces in April 2023. [2]
What to watch next: The UN Fact-Finding Mission continues to examine patterns of mass rape and forced pregnancy as a potential fourth genocidal act while monitoring compliance with the arms embargo on support to the RSF.
