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For more than two years now, a horrific conflict has been raging in Sudan.
The two main warring parties – the Rapid Support Forces (RSF) and the Sudanese Armed Forces (SAF) – have committed horrific abuses against civilians. Their lists of atrocities grow longer almost by the day.
The RSF and their allied militias have carried out widespread, deliberate killings of civilians, many ethnically targeted. The RSF has engaged in widespread sexual violence, notably gang-rape, and pillage, as well. They’ve also destroyed, often by burning, towns and villages, and massively looted aid.
On the other side, the SAF have unlawfully killed civilians. They’ve repeatedly and deliberately obstructed humanitarian aid from reaching those who need it. The SAF have also carried out airstrikes targeting civilian infrastructure, including hospitals.
The latest research from Human Rights Watch details SAF airstrikes in the region of South Darfur in February. They killed scores of civilians in attacks that used air-dropped bombs on residential and commercial neighborhoods in the city of Nyala. These strikes were part of a broader military surge of aerial bombings of Nyala, a hub for the RSF.
HRW found these attacks were indiscriminate, because the unguided bombs used have wide-area effects with limited accuracy. In populated areas, they can’t, under most conditions, be directed at a specific military target. Deliberately or recklessly conducting indiscriminate attacks is a war crime.
Yet more atrocities to add to Sudan’s ever-growing list. No one can ever hope to even document them all.
However, their horrific effects can be made clear with a few country-wide numbers.
In addition to the tens of thousands abused and killed, the renewed conflict has forced more than 12 million people to flee from their homes. About a third of them have fled to neighboring countries. The millions who remain make Sudan the world’s largest crisis of internal displacement.
Some 25 million people – that’s about half of the population of Sudan – are now dependent on emergency food supplies. Two million could be at risk of starvation in the coming months.
Last week’s deadly attack on a UN aid convoy in North Darfur is a reminder that both warring parties have been obstructing humanitarian efforts with no regard for the millions who desperately need relief.
Civilians continue to bear the brunt of Sudan’s devastating, two-year-old war.
Other countries need to take concerted action to protect civilians. They can do this by supporting the current international investigations into atrocities in Sudan and sanctioning individual perpetrators responsible for grave violations.
