UN Says Sudan Atrocities Bear ‘Markers of Genocide’ as Inquiry Pivots to El Obeid

9 July 2026

Civilians detained by RSF fighters as they try to escape the besieged city of El Fasher on August 20, 2025.

July 8, 2026 (GENEVA) – Brutal mass killings, systematic abductions, and gang rapes carried out by Sudan’s Rapid Support Forces in the besieged city of El Fasher constitute distinct markers of genocide, a United Nations fact-finding mission said on Wednesday.

The UN independent mission warned that similar patterns of civilian devastation are now emerging in the strategic city of El Obeid, prompting the global body to launch an urgent inquiry into unfolding human rights violations there.

A supplementary report published by the mission detailed fresh evidence of international law violations in El Fasher, including detention, torture, ransom-taking, and the enforced disappearance of civilians.

Mohamed Chande Othman, chair of the fact-finding mission, said the patterns documented in El Fasher, including the encirclement of cities, attacks on infrastructure, and severe restrictions on humanitarian access, serve as a stark warning for other regions.

The U.N. Human Rights Council adopted a resolution without a vote on Monday expressing deep concern over the imminent risk of large-scale atrocities by the paramilitary Rapid Support Forces in and around El Obeid.

El Obeid currently houses more than half a million residents alongside over 100,000 internally displaced persons who face escalating insecurity and cuts to essential services.

UN expert member Mona Rishmawi said the international community has a narrow window of opportunity to prevent further atrocity crimes, warning that El Obeid must not become the next crime scene.

The expert panel reiterated its calls for international accountability and urged prompt cooperation with the International Criminal Court to prosecute those responsible for the violence.

The conflict in Sudan broke out in April 2023 between the regular Sudanese Armed Forces and the paramilitary Rapid Support Forces, triggering one of the world’s worst humanitarian crises.