Sudan says RSF killed 28,000, found 965 mass graves in conflict
June 17, 2025 (GENEVA) – Sudan’s Prosecutor General Al-Fateh Tayfour on Tuesday disclosed for the first time official figures on the scale of abuses committed by the paramilitary Rapid Support Forces (RSF) during their war against the army, reporting tens of thousands killed, wounded, or forcibly disappeared, and 965 mass graves.
The conflict, which erupted in April 2023, has unofficially been linked to the deaths of more than 150,000 civilians.
“The total number of dead and wounded from RSF violations reached 28,613 killed and 43,575 wounded,” Tayfour told the Human Rights Council in Geneva.
Investigations by a national committee revealed 14,506 cases of forced disappearance and detention attributed to the RSF, along with the killing of prisoners, Tayfour said. The committee also discovered 965 mass graves.
Tayfour added that the national committee had contacted six countries to extradite 17 accused individuals. Charges filed include genocide, war crimes, crimes against humanity, and terrorism. Investigations have been completed for 3,997 cases, which have been referred to national courts.
In August 2023, the head of Sudan’s Sovereign Council and army chief, Abdel Fattah al-Burhan, ordered the formation of the committee to investigate RSF violations and crimes during the conflict.
Tayfour accused the RSF of committing genocide and extrajudicial killings in Al Jazirah State, El Geneina, Ardamta in West Darfur, Al-Jamouia and Al-Salha in Omdurman, El Obeid, An-Nahud, and Al-Khawi in North and West Kordofan, and the Zamzam and Abu Shouk camps in North Darfur.
In January, the United States declared that the RSF had committed genocide in Sudan and subsequently imposed sanctions on its commander, Mohamed Hamdan Daglo, known as Hemetti.
Tayfour also stated that the RSF violated children’s rights by forcibly recruiting 9,000 children and deploying them to battlefields. He further alleged that the RSF used foreign mercenary gangs from over 12 countries, which he claimed the United Arab Emirates had recruited.