Women’s group warns of genocide threat in Sudan’s El Fasher

October 10, 2024 (EL FASHER) – A women’s rights group warned on Thursday of a looming genocide threat in Sudan’s El Fasher as escalating violence traps civilians and cuts off essential aid.

The Strategic Initiative for Women in the Horn of Africa (SIHA) condemned recent attacks by the Rapid Support Forces (RSF) on civilians, including the shelling of markets and displacement shelters on Oct. 1 that killed over 100 people and injured more than 150.

SIHA said RSF forces had entered homes and killed civilians, citing the case of a man whose wife was killed and two daughters injured. It also voiced concern over the abduction of an unknown number of women and girls from a shelter on Sept. 22, who it feared may have been subjected to conflict-related sexual violence (CRSV) and killings.

El Fasher is currently under siege by the RSF, hindering humanitarian aid delivery and exacerbating food insecurity. Hospitals have been destroyed by aerial bombardment, leaving civilians with limited access to medical care, especially for women suffering from sexual violence.

“Civilians have nowhere to go,” SIHA said, highlighting the plight of over two million displaced people, mostly women and children. The group reported instances of women forced into “survival sex” to access food and families resorting to forced marriages of young women in exchange for resources.

SIHA echoed U.N. Special Advisor on the Prevention of Genocide Alice Nderitu’s warning that “risk factors and indicators for genocide and related crimes are present in El Fasher.” It said CRSV was being used as a tactic of war, amounting to war crimes and crimes against humanity.

The group called for urgent international action to protect civilians, ensure accountability for perpetrators of violence, pressure warring parties to cease hostilities, and support local communities and aid workers.