Under the skies of Sudan's Darfur region, a grim daily reality unfolds: entire families disappear, villages are burned to the ground, women are subjected to horrific sexual violence, and properties are looted.
The large region of western Sudan is controlled by the paramilitary Rapid Support Forces (RSF), who have been fighting the Sudanese Armed Forces since 2023, and have been accused of committing these atrocities.
Opposition is not welcome in RSF-held territory, but working quietly to document the abuses are secret monitoring teams working with Sudan's National Commission for Human Rights (NCHR), gathering evidence in the hope that it will eventually be used to get justice for civilian victims.
Operating under extreme conditions, the monitoring teams carry small mobile phones to document what they can. In an interview with Al Jazeera, Rahmatullah Mohammedin Abakar, director of the NCHR's Darfur division, revealed the staggering challenges his field teams face.
Operating covertly and relying on a network of locals using secure communication methods, the field teams say they have documented a systematic pattern of ethnic-based violence targeting civilians in every city under RSF control. Abakar said that the RSF has carried out mass executions that amount to genocide, adding that the NCHR possesses reliable reports of mass graves in both el-Geneina and el-Fasher.
The NCHR has also documented nearly 4,000 cases of sexual violence across Darfur, with 20 percent of the victims being girls under the age of 18. This aligns with a June 2026 report by the UN Office of the High Commissioner for Human Rights.
A recent UN fact-finding mission concluded that the RSF's systematic campaign of violence during and after its siege of el-Fasher amounted to genocide. Amnesty International has also accused the RSF of committing crimes against humanity and ethnic cleansing in el-Fasher.
Beyond the killings and sexual violence, arbitrary detention remains a critical crisis. Abakar said that the RSF is currently holding 1,480 civilians in el-Fasher alone, including 446 children and 360 women. In Nyala, approximately 10,000 detainees are being held in Daqris prison, 9,000 of them women.
Abakar demanded the immediate release of the detainees in accordance with international protocols. The conflict in Sudan, which erupted in April 2023, has already killed tens of thousands and displaced nearly 14 million people.
NCHR field teams face immense hurdles in accessing violation sites due to RSF territorial control. Abdul Nasser Salem, a security expert, said the abuses likely constitute war crimes and crimes against humanity under the Rome Statute.
Abakar called on the international community to protect human rights teams on the ground. The RSF has previously denied targeting civilians and promised to hold violators accountable.
Source: www.aljazeera.com