Rights group says RSF abductions of women, children in El Fasher are war crimes
September 1, 2025 (KHARTOUM) – A prominent regional women’s rights group has strongly condemned the Rapid Support Forces (RSF) and its allied militias for a systematic campaign of abduction and enforced disappearance of women and children in and around El Fasher, North Darfur, labelling the acts as war crimes and crimes against humanity.
In a statement released Sunday, the Strategic Initiative for Women in the Horn of Africa (SIHA) said it has documented over 291 cases of enforced disappearance and abduction targeting women, girls, and children across Sudan since the war began in April 2023.
The group warned that these crimes have become “the norm” in El Fasher and the nearby Abu Shouk camp for displaced people since the beginning of August, corresponding with the RSF’s increasing expansion in the city. “These crimes are being committed in a systematic manner, using the civilian population, predominantly the bodies of women and children, as targets of war,” SIHA stated.
The rights group detailed several recent incidents, including an August 12 raid in El Fasher’s Al-Wadi neighbourhood where RSF fighters kidnapped seven people, including three children aged five, 12, and 15, and four elderly women in their 60s. Those taken were identified as Suad Haroun (64), Amna Haroun (68), Awatif Saleh (65), Tayamun Ahmed Al-Tijani (5), Tanizil Ahmed Al-Tijani (12), Mohamed Ahmed Al-Tijani (15), and Maryam Majrous (65).
On August 23, six more women were reportedly abducted by the RSF from the Abu Shouk camp, including Halima Adam (50), Heba Mohammedin (18), Aisha Adam (50), Zainab Suleiman Abdullah (55), Fatima Mohamed Hajar (30), and Jamila Ahmed Ali (30). All victims from both incidents were taken to unknown locations.
SIHA also highlighted a March 2025 incident where 30 women and children were abducted from villages east of El Fasher and taken to a medical supply building converted into an “incarceration centre.” There, they were allegedly forced into labour and subjected to sexual violence.
The organization believes many similar cases go undocumented due to the perilous security situation and frequent communication blackouts. “These systematic acts against women, children, and the elderly are not isolated incidents but rather part of a deliberate policy to terrorize civilians,” the statement read.
SIHA issued an urgent call for the immediate and unconditional release of all abductees. The group demanded that the RSF lift its siege on El Fasher to allow humanitarian access, and called on the international community to halt all external weapon supplies to the warring parties, in line with the existing arms embargo on Darfur.
Furthermore, the organization urged all parties to comply with UN Security Council Resolution 2736, which calls for a cessation of hostilities. It pressed the Security Council to consider deploying a peacekeeping mission to Darfur to protect civilians if the fighting does not stop.
“Justice will always be the foundation of peace and peaceful coexistence,” SIHA concluded, calling for accountability for all perpetrators of crimes in Darfur. “We call on you to take serious steps to protect the women and children of Darfur and lift the siege on El Fasher before it is too late.”