The European Union has condemned the increasing violence and atrocities being committed by the Rapid Support Forces (RSF) in the Western Darfur region of Sudan. The EU cited “credible eyewitness reports” of major attacks on the Masalit community in recent days which resulted in over one thousand deaths. The EU statement noted that “these atrocities are seemingly part of a wider ethnic cleansing campaign conducted by the RSF,” a campaign which began with an initial wave of violence in June. The statement reminded those involved of their international legal duties owed to the people within their control and that the EU is “working together with the International Criminal Court and other international partners” to bring those responsible to account. In closing, the EU warned that the international community cannot “allow another genocide to happen in this region.”

The United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees and JURIST have published statements and articles highlighting accusations against the RSF which include “mass killings, sexual assaults, and widespread looting” along with “torture… [and] extortion of civilians” that has “contributed to a dire humanitarian crisis.” JURIST quoted the UN humanitarian coordinator for Sudan “describ[ing] the situation in Darfur as ‘verging on pure evil.’” The High Commissioner, Filippo Grandi, called for “an immediate end to the fighting and unconditional respect for the civilian population” as he fears that a return to the dynamic of the early 2000’s “might be developing.”