Civilians bear the brunt of ethnicization of Sudan conflict: UN
Geneva, Switzerland (PANA) - The Sudanese conflict has intensified in recent months, according to a report by the UN Human Rights Office, which reports a significant increase in the number of civilians killed, amid growing ethnic violence and a worsening humanitarian situation.
The report by the Office of the United Nations High Commissioner for Human Rights (OHCHR) accuses the paramilitary Rapid Support Forces (RSF) of having committed a "myriad" of acts amounting to crimes against humanity, while the Sudanese Armed Forces (SAF) are accused of war crimes.
“The conflict in Sudan is a forgotten conflict, and I hope that my office’s report will shed light on this dire situation where atrocious crimes, including war crimes, are being committed,” said Volker Türk, UN High Commissioner for Human Rights, in a statement.
At least 3,400 civilians were killed between January and June in Sudan, primarily in Darfur, followed by Kordofan and Khartoum. The number is already significantly higher than the same period last year. For the entire year, the UN had verified the deaths of nearly 4,300 civilians. And the number this year is likely much higher.
"Every day we receive new reports of horrors on the ground," Li Fung of the OHCHR office in Sudan said at a press conference in Geneva.
More than 70 percent of the casualties (2,398) were recorded during hostilities, as parties continued to launch attacks in densely populated areas using artillery fire, airstrikes, and drones. The report also documents the unlawful killing of at least 990 civilians outside of hostilities, including through summary executions.
Between February and April, the number of such killings tripled, largely due to a surge in summary executions, mainly in Khartoum, after the SAF regained control of territory previously held by paramilitaries at the end of March. These battles generally lead to reprisal campaigns.
A witness who observed the search operations carried out by the SAF in neighbourhoods east of the Nile River in Khartoum said he saw children aged 14 or 15, accused of being members of the RSF, being summarily executed. Paramilitaries also carried out summary executions in Khartoum in the face of the advancing Sudanese army.
Furthermore, the OHCHR indicates that it has documented multiple incidents involving hate speech amounting to incitement to violence, targeting individuals and communities on the basis of their ethnicity.
Following the recapture of Wad Madani by the SAF, High Commissioner Türk's office received footage showing Sudanese soldiers committing acts of violence against civilians from western Sudan. The latter were denigrated and referred to as "wassekh" ("filth"), "afan" ("mould"), "beheema" ("animal"), and "abnaa e-dheif" ("bastards").
Elements of the Sudanese Armed Forces referred to "nadhafa" ("cleaning operations") in this context.
UN News reported that during an OHCHR mission to eastern Chad, several witnesses also reported that, in the context of attacks on the Zamzam and El Fasher IDP camps in North Darfur, RSF paramilitaries invoked the ethnicity of the victims when targeting members of African communities accused of supporting the Sudanese Armed Forces, often referring to the victims as "falangai," a pejorative term for enslaved people.
"The growing ethnicization of the conflict, which builds on long-standing discrimination and inequality, poses serious risks to long-term stability and social cohesion within the country," Türk warned.
On another level, the document also points to "recurring patterns of conflict-related sexual violence used as a weapon of war". Between January and June, the OHCHR recorded a total of 164 incidents of conflict-related sexual violence, involving at least 228 victims, including 113 women, 110 girls, one man, and four boys. In total, 56 of these incidents occurred in 2025, 87 in 2024, and 21 in 2023.
The majority of incidents since 2023 and documented during the reporting period occurred in West Darfur State (18), where sexual violence appeared to be a consistent feature of attacks by RSF paramilitaries.
More than 12 million people have been displaced. After more than two years of conflict in Sudan, more than half of the country's population faces acute food insecurity, and only a quarter of health centers remain operational.
-0- PANA MA 21Sept2025
