RSF’s spiral of violence in Sudan

News of extreme violence is coming Gezira, east-central state of Sudan It points to mass murders, torture and sexual violence against civilians in recent attacks by the paramilitary Rapid Support Forces (RSF).

Local sources documented at least 124 people died and 150 people were kidnapped in the village of Alseriha in the agricultural Gezira province, located between the White Nile and Blue Nile rivers, in an attack launched by RSF fighters between 20 and 25 October. Women and girls were sexually assaulted, scores were injured, private and public properties were looted, and more than 46,500 people were displaced.

One report The paramilitary group fighting against Sudan’s national army was accused of extensive “atrocious crimes” committed in areas under their control, by the UN Independent International Investigation Mission published two weeks ago.

The investigation’s findings revealed that the majority of rape and sexual and gender-based violence were committed by the RSF and documented mainly in Greater Khartoum, Darfur and Gezira, and were part of a pattern aimed at terrorizing and punishing civilians for “perceived links with the opposition”. to suppress all opposition to their progress”.

A previous UN report In September it concluded that both the RSF and the Sudanese Armed Forces (SAF) and allied militias were responsible for large-scale human rights violations, including acts that could amount to war crimes and crimes against humanity.

“RSF is eyeing opportunities for loot and the ease of sexual assault,” said Eric Reeves, an American academic who has been researching Sudan for more than 20 years. New Arabexpresses shock. “They will seek out any area where they encounter least resistance and go there.”

While SAF he observed: I’m slowly making progress It has not put real pressure on Gezira province, which, in his opinion, is the reason for the brutal spiral of violence there.

RSF’s egregious violations occurred just days after the incident. departure of one of its top commanders In the region, Abu Aqla Kikal’s departure to the SAF triggered retaliatory attacks against villages and towns loyal to Kikal, observers said.

The group has recently launched a series of attacks in east-central Sudan after losing territory to the military in the region. Since September, the Sudanese army has been carrying out a major operation to retake the capital Khartoum and surrounding areas from RSF hands.

According to Sudan expert Cameron Hudson, the events in Gezira carry a deeper motivation beyond revenge for Kikal’s departure.

“This is not chaos and destruction resulting from a lack of command or control, but rather a deliberate effort to terrorize and ethnically cleanse a region,” emphasized Hudson, a senior fellow in the Africa Program at the Center for Strategic and International Studies (CSIS). He pointed out that there was a “pattern” witnessed over the last 20 years in various regions where Rapid Support Forces repeatedly committed such crimes.

The analyst noted that RSF fighters often commit brutal acts against civilians in areas where the Sudanese army has little or no presence. “That’s when they can continue these attacks,” he said. “When they exercise control over the civilian population, the result is a real increase in sexual violence.”

Hudson explained that the RSF’s extreme style of warfare must be considered in light of the significant losses the militia suffered in Khartoum and Omdurman and the recent US sanctions against one of its leaders. He also predicted that the group would face more senior-level departures in the coming period.

The RSF took control of almost the entire province of Gezira in December last year after violently seizing several cities, including the provincial capital. Vad Medeni, south of Khartoum as the SAF withdraws from the country’s second largest city.

There were reports of residents being killed, sexually assaulted, and arrested, civilian areas looted, and valuables stolen during the paramilitary advance, causing thousands of people to flee, many of whom had lived as farmers in the state for decades. Since then, agricultural production in RSF-controlled areas has come to a halt due to insecurity and looting of agricultural equipment, seeds and fertilizers.

Gezira, known as the grain warehouse of Sudan, produced half of the wheat grown in the country before the war. It has now become one of the most food insecure states in Sudan.

Sudanese freelance journalist Eyad Husham noted the disastrous impact of the raging war on national food availability, given Sudan’s “heavy dependence” on the east-central state for grain production; nationwide famine.

“RSF plans to take control of the agricultural heartland, ensure there is no resistance from local communities, and use Gezira to seize other SAF-held areas from now on,” Husham said. TNAIt is predicted that the militias will most likely advance eastward, as clashes are expected to intensify with the end of the rainy season this month.

While the Sudanese correspondent strongly deplored the RSF’s indiscriminate attacks targeting civilians in Gezira, he pointed out that some locals chose to arm themselves “solely in self-defense” in the face of the brutal actions of paramilitary forces in the villages and towns they occupied.

With the staggering level of brutal abuses committed against the Sudanese people in over 18 months of conflict, the RSF has undoubtedly failed to gain any legitimacy in Sudan despite significant territorial gains.

The RSF’s strategy can no longer rely entirely on military dominance, as remaining a militia based on violence and repression will only hinder its quest for power.

“RFS has no local public support, no ideology. “This is just lust for power and money,” Reeves said.

The group evolved as follows: notorious Janjaweed militia They fought in a conflict in the Darfur region in the early 2000s, where they were mobilized by former longtime ruler Omar al-Bashir to help the army put down an insurgency. The Janjaweed have gained a ruthless global reputation for committing genocide and ethnic cleansing. Darfur conflict. In 2013, the militia was restructured into the Rapid Support Forces, which are now estimated to number around 100,000 fighters.

The massacre in Gezira took place at a time when the brutality of the war that broke out in Sudan in April 2023 continued, as tensions increased between the army and paramilitary forces led by the de facto head of state and national army chief, General Abdel Fattah al-Burhan. The force, under the command of his former deputy Mohamed Hamdan Dagalo (known as Hemedti), broke into open conflict.

The brutal SAF-RSF power struggle has killed an estimated 62,000 people – though the real number may be much higher – and more than 11 million have been displaced since the conflict began. At least 25 million people, more than half of Sudan’s population, face acute hunger.

Various external actors supporting warring parties involved in widespread war crimes and atrocities involved Providing weapons and other support to the SAF and RSF, including Egypt, Iran, Russia and Syria UAE.

Research published by Amnesty International in July documented that recently manufactured foreign weapons were being transported to and around Sudan.

In particular, a UN report In January, he cited “credible” evidence that the UAE was supplying weapons and ammunition to the RSF. Abu Dhabi’s continued arms supply has enabled paramilitary fighters to carry out the latest atrocity in Gezira, among other serious abuses across the country.

Reeves argued that both the RSF and the SAF should be condemned for their actions, but that some differentiation should be made to “choose between the lesser of two evils” and that the United States should make a serious re-evaluation of what it means for this action. UAE as an ally.

“RSF is much worse, it is tearing the country apart. The Sudanese researcher said it simply had to be stopped.

As the war continues unabated, both sides of the conflict are unwilling to openly negotiate and each believes in a military victory on the field.

The international community’s inaction means that no diplomatic pressure is being applied to countries in the region that support the warring parties with money and weapons.

“The decision to end the war is not in the hands of Burhan or Hemedti,” Husham said. He thinks global powers have not yet pressed for an end to hostilities because they have found common ground that will satisfy their regional allies in securing their interests in Sudan. “They haven’t shared the cake yet, so the global community doesn’t know how to deal with this situation,” the Sudanese journalist added.

According to Hudson, the global community, especially the United States, is “running away” from the problem; instead, it chooses not to use tools such as labeling the RSF as a terrorist group, endorsing its leadership, or pressuring the UAE to stop fueling the war.

The Sudanese expert expects the conflicts to continue and deepen, especially due to impunity for violations committed by both sides, such as attacking civilians or obstructing the distribution of humanitarian aid.

Alessandra Bajec is a freelance journalist currently living in Tunisia.

Follow him on Twitter: @AlessandraBajec