Geneva, Dec. 19, 2025 – A new United Nations report provides a harrowing, detailed account of a three-day massacre in Sudan, accusing the paramilitary Rapid Support Forces (RSF) of killing at least 1,013 civilians and displacing over 400,000 people during an offensive on a displaced persons camp in April 2025. The findings expose not a random act of violence, but a deliberate campaign that experts warn constitutes a pattern of potential war crimes and crimes against humanity in a conflict the world has largely overlooked.
The report from the UN Human Rights Office (OHCHR) focuses on the RSF’s assault on the Zamzam camp for internally displaced persons (IDPs) near El Fasher, North Darfur, between April 11 and 13. At the time, Zamzam was the largest such camp in the region, sheltering several hundred thousand people who had already fled previous waves of violence. The OHCHR documents that the attack was characterized by “a consistent pattern of serious violations of international humanitarian law and gross abuses of international human rights law,” including killings, widespread sexual violence, torture, and abductions.
Context: A Calculated Siege Preceded the Slaughter
Crucially, the UN report reveals that the massacre was not an isolated event but the brutal culmination of a months-long siege. In the lead-up to the April offensive, the RSF systematically blocked the import of essential supplies—food, water, fuel, and medicine—into the Zamzam camp. They attacked individuals who attempted to bring in aid, weaponizing starvation and deprivation. This tactic, known as besieging a civilian population, is a grave breach of the Geneva Conventions. The report notes the desperate consequences: to survive, many families were forced to feed their children animal feed, such as peanut shells. This context transforms the subsequent attack from a military operation into what appears to be a planned annihilation of a vulnerable community.
The Broader Crisis: The World’s Largest Humanitarian Catastrophe
This atrocity occurred within Sudan’s wider civil war, a brutal power struggle that erupted in April 2023 after the RSF resisted integration into the national army. The conflict has since spiraled into what the UN describes as the world’s largest humanitarian crisis. The numbers are staggering: fighting has displaced approximately 12 million people internally and externally, while nearly 25 million—one in every two Sudanese—face acute hunger. Despite this scale of suffering, the crisis receives a fraction of the international media attention and diplomatic effort devoted to other conflicts, such as that in the Gaza Strip, creating a devastating “forgotten war” scenario.
Systematic Violence and International Law
The OHCHR’s documentation points to actions that may meet the legal thresholds for war crimes and crimes against humanity. The targeting of a civilian IDP camp, the use of siege tactics, and the commission of widespread rape and executions are not incidental to the fighting but represent a method of warfare. UN High Commissioner for Human Rights Volker Türk issued an urgent appeal, stating, “The world must not sit back and watch as such cruelty becomes entrenched as the order of the day in Sudan.” His words underscore the risk of impunity: when such acts are not met with decisive international action—including referrals to the International Criminal Court, targeted sanctions on commanders, and arms embargoes—they become normalized, perpetuating the cycle of violence.
Conclusion: Beyond the Headline Number
The figure “more than 1,000 civilians killed in three days” is a shocking headline, but the true value of the UN report lies in its meticulous documentation of the how and why. It reveals a premeditated strategy of siege and slaughter against a trapped civilian population. It places a single massacre within the context of a nationwide catastrophe of displacement and famine. Most importantly, it serves as an evidentiary record and a direct challenge to the international community. The world’s response—or lack thereof—to this report will signal whether the principles of human rights and civilian protection have any meaning in the face of such calculated brutality.
Report Source: United Nations Human Rights Office (OHCHR). Edited for clarity and context.
