The RSF’s campaign in Darfur must be called what it is, a genocide

THE escalating conflict in Sudan, which began in April 2023 between the Sudanese Armed Forces (SAF) and the Rapid Support Forces (RSF), has metastasised from Khartoum into Darfur and other regions, resulting in mass civilian casualties and catastrophic displacement.

- SESONA MDLOKOVANA

This is far from generic wartime violence; it is what can be considered as a deliberate and targeted campaign of destruction that has devastated entire communities and driven millions from their homes. Humanitarian organisations confirm millions are displaced both internally and across borders.

Recent weeks have brought horrifying escalations, particularly following the RSF’s capture of El-Fasher, which has triggered reports of mass killings, widespread sexual violence, and a fresh wave of refugees.

These brutal acts are not isolated incidents but represent a consistent pattern rooted in the RSF’s origins and operational tactics.

Why this meets the legal and moral threshold of genocide

Genocide is a legal term that requires proof of intent to destroy, in whole or in part, a protected group. The evidence on the ground, the selection of targets, the patterns of killings, the use of hunger and displacement as tools, and the RSF’s lineage from the Janjaweed militias of the 2000s, together make the case that we are witnessing what is way more than war crimes or ethnic cleansing.

Human Rights Watch and other investigators documented campaigns in the West Darfur that deliberately targeted populations that are nonArab, accompanied by mass murder, forced displacement and widespread sexual violence, actions that fit the behaviours associated with genocidal intent.

Those patterns have recurred and broadened under RSF operations, indicating a strategic campaign to uproot and, in many localities, to destroy communities defined by ethnicity.