UN report: Over 1,013 civilians killed in Sudan's camp takeover

GENEVA, Dec 18 (KUNA) -- At least 1,013 civilians were killed during an offensive by Sudan's paramilitary Rapid Support Forces (RSF) on Zamzam internally displaced persons camp from 11 to 13 April, said a UN Human Rights Office report said on Thursday.
The report described this as "a consistent pattern of serious violations of international humanitarian law and gross abuses of international human rights law".
The report issued in Geneva details also widespread killings, rape and other forms of sexual violence, torture and abductions committed during the three-day offensive by the RSF on the Zamzam internally displaced persons camp in April this year.
"Such deliberate killing of civilians or persons hors de combat may constitute the war crime of murder," UN High Commissioner for Human Rights Volker Turk was quoted by the report as saying.
He called for "an impartial thorough and effective investigation into the attack on the Zamzam IDP camp and those responsible for serious violations of international law must be punished within fair proceedings." "These horrific patterns of violations committed with impunity are consistent with what my Office has repeatedly documented including during the RSF takeover of Al-Fasher in late October," said Turk.
He called on all States particularly those with influence on the situation to do all in their power to prevent atrocities, to act urgently to prevent the commission of crimes under international law and to take steps to halt the supply sale or transfer of arms that continue to fuel the conflict.
According to the report, 319 were summarily executed either in the camp or as they tried to flee. Some were killed in their homes during house-to-house searches by the RSF others were killed in the main market in schools, health facilities and mosques. More than 400,000 inhabitants of the camp were displaced once again due to the attack.
The report also detailed patterns of conflict-related sexual violence. At least 104 survivors comprising 75 women, 26 girls and three boys, most of them from the Zaghawa ethnic group, were subjected to gruesome sexual violence, including rape, gang rape and sexual slavery both during the attack on the camp and along the exit routes.
"Sexual violence appears to have been deliberately used to inflict terror among the community," said the report.
The report also confirmed that in the months prior to the attack, the RSF had blocked the entry of all food water, fuel and other goods essential for the survival of the civilian population in Zamzam IDP camp and systematically attacked those who attempted to bring in supplies.
Some 26 individuals were apprehended and reportedly executed along the road between Zamzam IDP camp and Tawila, apparently as a warning against any attempt to bring food into the camp. To survive, many families resorted to feeding children animal feed, such as peanut shells.
The report is based on monitoring undertaken by the UN Human Rights Office, including interviews conducted in July 2025 with 155 survivors and witnesses in eastern Chad. (end) imk.mt