Sudanese fear 'signs of genocide': Eyewitnesses report thousands dead in Darfur

Civilians trapped in Sudan fear they may be witnessing the return of genocidal acts by warring parties in the country’s escalating civil conflict, according to eyewitness reports this week. 

The prospect of genocide recurring in Darfur is already a reality, according to reports by activists in the province. 

“Al Geneina is no more,” tweeted Darfur resident Marwa Tageldin. 

She said: "50% of the young men have been killed in battle. There is no way of counting the dead, there is no government. Bodies are in the streets and in homes."

الجنينة بلد مظلومة لانو مافيها اعلام عشان يقدر يوصلو الاخبار لباقي الدول لكي يدعمو البلد الجنينة انتهت رسميا وخمسين في المية من الشباب استشهدوا في المعركة

ليس هنالك نسبة معينه لعدد الوفيات لانو البلد مافيها حكومة ولا حتى أطباء لكي يحصرو عدد القتلى لحدي الان في جثث في المنازل

— Marwa Tageldin (@Marlicious33) June 23, 2023

Tageldin believes that as many as 15,000 could already have been killed in Darfur, though this figure has not been independently verified. 

Other eyewitnesses have reported the burning of villages in south Darfur by RSF militia - with residents fleeing to the nearby town of Kas. 

Reports of RSF burning villages of Gubba, Kaylek and Darso in South Darfur.

Residents of those villages have fled to the town of Kas. #EyesOnDarfur #KeepEyesOnSudan https://t.co/X93Cr3wlad

— Munchkin (@BSonblast) June 23, 2023

The Geneva-based UN rights office said people who escaped to Chad had given "horrifying accounts of armed 'Arab' militia backed by the Rapid Support Forces killing people fleeing El Geneina on foot".

It said witnesses had given "corroborating accounts" of Arab militia targeting men from the non-Arab Masalit people.

"All those interviewed also spoke of seeing dead bodies scattered along the road -- and the stench of decomposition," it said.

 "There are already signs of genocide,” confirmed Kenyan president William Ruto speaking at the Paris summit this week. 

“What is going on in Sudan is unacceptable. Military power is being used by both parties to destroy the country and to kill civilians. The war is senseless, the war is not legitimate in any way," said Ruto.

Nyala Clashes from the early morning in the Al-Wadi neighborhood, and for the first time the battles arrived to revive the south of the city of Nyala (Texas) / El shaabbei market. Civilians were killed and civilians were killed in Nyala, by SAF and RSF bullets

— GOUJA AHMED (@qoga12) June 23, 2023

The RSF, still known to many in Sudan as the Janjaweed, have also launched assaults on the major cities of al-Fashir and Niyala - with heavy fighting between Hemedti’s forces and the Sudanese Armed Forces (SAF) ongoing. 

There are signs that deadly violence against civilians has become increasingly routine across the country - stoking further fears of a protracted civil war. 

“Two young men and their father were shot dead today by the RSF in Umpada in  Omdurman for refusing to leave their home...The prevalence of executions among unarmed citizens inside their homes is rising,” said Sudanese activist Hala al-Karib. 

The SAF, led by General Abdel Fattah al-Burhan, have also been accused of augmenting civilian suffering by “hampering humanitarian response” and had been implicated in the waves of looting that have pockmarked the country over the last two months. 

Medecins sans Frontieres have blamed both parties for failing to allow aid to reach the millions in need across the country. 

“The work of medical and humanitarian organisations is also being physically disrupted by both warring parties,” said MSF Sudan. 

“MSF supplies have been confiscated, while armed groups have looted MSF facilities and beaten and violently threatened staff.”

Sudanese are paying intolerable price for the generals who have pushed #Sudan into all-out war. They should not however suffer from uneven diplomacy. All outside parties need to upgrade their diplomacy, which has failed to rise to urgency of the moment https://t.co/giibYDKNVt

— Comfort Ero (@EroComfort) June 22, 2023

Many Sudanese analysts have voiced frustration in recent days over suggestions by international monitors that the Rapid Support Forces, led by Hemedti, should maintain a stake in future coalitions to restore the country to peace.