More than 1,000 civilians were killed in Darfur, western Sudan, when a paramilitary group seized control of a camp for displaced people last April, according to a report published Thursday by the Office of the United Nations High Commissioner for Human Rights. Approximately one-third of the victims were summarily executed, according to the findings of the 18-page document.
The report specifies that the Zamzam camp, which housed approximately half a million people displaced by the civil war, was captured between April 11 and 13 by the Rapid Support Forces, a powerful paramilitary group involved in the Sudanese conflict. The violence reportedly targeted civilians and those unable to fight, under particularly brutal conditions.
“Such deliberate killing of civilians or persons incapacitated for combat may constitute the war crime of murder,” said UN High Commissioner for Human Rights Volker Türk in a statement accompanying the report’s release. He stressed the gravity of the documented facts and the need for accountability.
The United Nations describes summary executions, indiscriminate attacks, and a violent takeover of the camp, further worsening the already catastrophic humanitarian situation in the Darfur region. Hundreds of thousands of people live there in precarious conditions after fleeing years of violence and instability.
This new report highlights the scale of the abuses committed in the Sudanese conflict and reinforces international calls for an independent investigation. As the civil war continues to ravage the country, the UN warns that persistent impunity risks fueling further atrocities against civilians.
