Three high-ranking commanders within Sudan’s paramilitary Rapid Support Forces have been identified in a newly released report by Amnesty International, which accuses them of directing war crimes during the siege and takeover of el-Fasher, a city in North Darfur, last October.
The report was unveiled Wednesday in Nairobi, the capital of neighboring Kenya. At the launch event, Amnesty International Secretary General Agnès Callamard stated that the Rapid Support Forces — known as the RSF — carried out crimes against humanity and acts of ethnic cleansing during the assault. Callamard called for an immediate ceasefire and urged the deployment of a United Nations protection force to keep civilians safe.
The RSF’s capture of el-Fasher in October 2025 resulted in more than 6,000 deaths over a span of just three days — an assault that United Nations experts described as bearing the “hallmarks of genocide.”
As part of its investigation, Amnesty International reviewed nine videos. The footage allegedly showed one RSF commander executing civilians, a second torturing detainees, and a third giving orders to torture prisoners.
Callamard outlined a sweeping list of crimes she said the RSF committed, including murder, forcible transfer, imprisonment, torture, rape, sexual slavery, other forms of sexual violence, enslavement, extermination, and persecution. She urged world leaders to step in and put an end to attacks on civilians that she said continue “unhindered.”
“It also requires strengthening accountability by ensuring sufficient support for all existing accountability mechanisms for Sudan, including the International Criminal Court, and U.N. and African Union-backed fact-finding missions. Commanders identified in this report should be investigated and, where there is sufficient admissible evidence, prosecuted,” Callamard said.
The RSF has not issued any response to the Amnesty International report. The rights organization said it sent the findings to the paramilitary group’s leader, Gen. Mohamed Hamdan Dagalo, last month but received no reply.
The conflict in Sudan began in April 2023, stemming from long-standing tensions between the country’s military and the RSF. Since then, the war has claimed the lives of at least 59,000 people, forced roughly 13 million people from their homes, and driven large portions of the country into famine. More than 30 million people are currently in need of humanitarian aid.
