The International Criminal Court (ICC) has opened an investigation into reports of mass killings and sexual violence following the capture of al-Fashir by the Rapid Support Forces (RSF).
The fall of the city last week handed the paramilitary group control of more than a quarter of Sudan’s territory, marking a significant shift in the country’s 18-month civil war.
In a statement on Monday, the ICC said it was taking immediate steps to collect and preserve evidence of alleged war crimes in al-Fashir for possible future prosecutions. The court has been investigating atrocities in Darfur since 2005, after the United Nations referred the region’s earlier conflict, widely described as genocide, to The Hague.
Witnesses told Reuters that RSF fighters separated men from women and children before executing the men. The UN human rights office said hundreds of civilians and unarmed fighters may have been killed during the assault. Around 70,000 people have fled the city since late October, but the fate of an estimated 200,000 others trapped inside remains unknown.
International Committee of the Red Cross (ICRC) president Mirjana Spoljaric described the situation as “horrific”, warning that “history is repeating” in Darfur. She said tens of thousands of civilians were without food, water or medical aid, and urged foreign powers with influence over the warring sides to curb the violence and protect civilians.
The RSF, which grew out of the Janjaweed militias accused of genocide in Darfur two decades ago, denies attacking civilians. Last month the ICC secured its first conviction of a Janjaweed commander for crimes committed in the 2000s.
Rights groups and Western officials have accused the RSF of ethnic cleansing and genocide elsewhere in Darfur. ICC prosecutors said they were moving swiftly to secure evidence from al-Fashir amid fears of another large-scale atrocity.
[Image: By Tony Webster – The International Criminal Court (ICC) at The Hague, CC BY 2.0, https://commons.wikimedia.org/w/index.php?curid=156598683]