The UN is calling for an end to the conflict in Sudan, which is causing enormous suffering to civilians. Sudan: New UN report details flagrant violations of international law International Law
A report released today by the UN Human Rights Office details mass killings, rape and other forms of sexual violence, torture and kidnappings committed during the three-day Rapid Reaction Force (RRF) offensive against the Zamzam camp for internally displaced persons in April this year.
Civilian casualties
At least 1,013 civilians were killed in the offensive from April 11 to 13. The report describes the events as “a consistent pattern of serious violations of international humanitarian law and gross violations of international human rights law.”
Of those killed, 319 people were summarily executed, either within the camp or while attempting to escape. Some were killed in their homes during successive residential searches by the Rapid Action Force, others in the main market, schools, health facilities and mosques. As a result of the attack, more than 400 thousand residents of the camp were again forced to flee their homes.
Brutal murders
One surviving community leader described how two RSF men stuck rifles through small holes in the window of the room where he was hiding with ten other men and opened fire, randomly killing eight of them. A woman who returned to the camp the day after the fatal attack searching for her missing 15-year-old son said: “The camp was empty. I saw the bodies of the dead scattered along the roads. Only chickens, donkeys and sheep roamed.” She never found her son that day.
Sexual Abuse
“Such deliberate killings of civilians or persons not already taking part in hostilities may amount to the war crime of murder,” said UN High Commissioner for Human Rights Volker Türk. “An impartial, thorough and effective investigation into the attack on Camp Zamzam must be conducted, and those responsible for serious violations of international law must be brought to justice through fair judicial procedures.” accountability for perpetrators and redress for victims
The report also details patterns of conflict-related sexual violence. At least 104 victims – 75 women, 26 girls and 3 boys, most of them from the Zaghawa ethnic group – were subjected to severe forms of sexual violence, including rape, gang rape and sexual slavery, both during the attack on the camp and along the evacuation routes.
“Sexual violence appears to have been deliberately used to intimidate the community,” the report said.
Food blockade
In the months leading up to the attack, the RRF blocked the entry of food, water, fuel and other goods vital to the survival of the camp’s civilian population, and systematically attacked those who tried to deliver there assistance, the report notes. Some 26 people were detained and reportedly executed on the road between the Zamzam camp and the town of Tawila, apparently as a warning against any attempts to bring food into the camp. To survive, many families were forced to give their children animal feed, such as peanut husks.
Ending the Cycle of Violence
“These appalling patterns of abuses carried out with impunity are consistent with what my Office has documented repeatedly, including during the SRF capture of El Fasher in late October,” said High Commissioner Volker Türk.
“The findings of this report are another stark reminder of the need for urgent action to end cycles of atrocities and violence, and to ensure accountability perpetrators and compensation for damage caused to victims,” Turk emphasized. “The world must not stand by and watch this kind of brutality become the norm in Sudan.” All states, especially those with influence over the situation, must do everything possible to prevent atrocities.”
Call to stop violations
The head of the UN Human Rights Office again called on all states to urgently take action to prevent violations of international law by parties to the conflict and increase pressure to stop violence – in Darfur, Kordofan and beyond, including through cessation supplies, sales and transfers of weapons that continue to fuel the conflict.
He also called for diplomatic efforts to end the fighting and achieve a sustainable solution to the conflict.
The report is based on monitoring conducted by the UN Human Rights Office, including interviews with 155 victims and witnesses conducted in July 2025 in eastern Chad.