More than 1,000 civilians were killed in the Zamzam camp in Sudan last April. They lost their lives following an attack by paramilitaries fighting against the government.

The toll is heavy. The Office of the High Commissioner for Human Rights pointed the finger, several months after the events, at a large-scale assault carried out by the Rapid Support Forces (RSF).

In a report published in Geneva and made public on Thursday, December 18, the High Commissioner deplores the "massacres, rapes and other sexual violence, acts of torture and abductions" perpetrated during the offensive launched against the Zamzam camp from April 11 to 13 by the SRF. "At least 1,013 civilians were killed" in the attack, the organization reports.

Summary executions, systematic rapes, even genocidal acts...

Among the victims, “319 were summarily executed, either in the camp or while attempting to flee. Some were killed in their homes during raids conducted by the RSF, others in the main market, schools, health centers, and mosques,” the Office of the High Commissioner stated. At the time of the offensive, approximately 400,000 civilians had attempted to flee the camp.

According to the High Commissioner, at least 104 people, including 75 women, 26 girls and 3 boys, also "suffered horrific sexual violence, including rape and gang rape, as well as sexual slavery, both during the attack on the camp and on the escape routes" between April 11 and May 20.

According to numerous analysts, these rapes are systematic and used as a weapon of war and ethnic cleansing against the Black population of the region. They are carried out by the FSR "to sow terror within the community," the report states, further explaining that in the months preceding the attack, the FSR had "blocked the delivery of all food, water, fuel, and other essential supplies for the survival of the camp's population."

"Flagrant violations of international human rights law"

The UN organization describes these acts as "serious and systematic violations of international humanitarian law and flagrant breaches of international human rights law."

This report reiterates "once again the urgent need to act quickly to end this cycle of atrocities and violence, and to ensure that those responsible are held accountable and that victims receive redress," said High Commissioner for Human Rights Volker Türk, quoted in a statement.

Zamzam is one of three large camps located on the outskirts of El-Fasher, the capital of North Darfur, which was captured at the end of October by the RSF. It housed up to one million people before this RSF assault, which has been at war with the army since April 2023.

For several decades, Sudan has been torn apart by a civil war in Darfur, a region in the Sahel region of western Sudan. This conflict stems from the country's low level of development, exacerbated by climate change and drought, as well as a population explosion that is difficult to manage. Various ethnic groups inhabit the nation, including Arab groups such as the Fur, Zaghawa, and Masalit, who are often represented by the Janjaweed and other Black tribes. But more than a racial conflict, Sudan is paying the price for its flawed unification.