Sudan’s RSF Militia Committed Genocide, UN Probe Finds
Africa · Northern
Key Facts
—UN finding. A UN probe concluded RSF atrocities in El Fasher amount to genocide against the Zaghawa and Fur communities.
—Methods. The RSF used mass killings, gang rape, enforced disappearances, and deliberate starvation as weapons of war.
—Scale. At least 6,000 people were killed in the first 72 hours after El Fasher fell to RSF forces.
—War economy. The conflict is sustained by illicit gold sales, with the RSF allegedly using the UAE as a marketplace for smuggled gold.
—Foreign backers. The UAE is accused of arming the RSF, while Iran has supplied weaponry to the Sudanese Armed Forces.
A United Nations fact-finding mission has concluded that the Rapid Support Forces committed genocide in Sudan’s Darfur region through mass killings and forced starvation, turning a civil war into a resource-fuelled proxy conflict with global stakes.
What the UN investigation uncovered in El Fasher
The UN Independent International Fact-Finding Mission for Sudan reported on 9 July 2026 that RSF forces carried out mass killings, gang rape, and deliberate starvation during an 18-month siege of El Fasher, the capital of North Darfur. The mission found the campaign bore the legal “hallmarks of genocide” against the Zaghawa and Fur communities.
Investigators documented ethnically targeted killings, widespread sexual violence, enforced disappearances, and the systematic denial of food, water, and medical care. The UN Human Rights Office cited evidence that the RSF killed at least 6,000 people in the first 72 hours after the city fell.
Amnesty International separately reported in July 2026 that the RSF committed crimes against humanity and ethnic cleansing during the seizure. Its findings included murder, forcible transfer, torture, rape, sexual slavery, enslavement, extermination, and persecution.
Starvation as a weapon of war
The UN mission said the RSF deliberately deprived civilians of food, water, and humanitarian assistance to systematically weaken the population. Famine conditions grew so severe that civilians resorted to eating ambaz, a peanut-oil byproduct normally used as animal feed.
UN experts stated that both the SAF and RSF have used food as a weapon in the war. They added that foreign governments supporting either side are complicit in starvation, crimes against humanity, and war crimes.
The legal framing matters because international law treats the infliction of conditions calculated to destroy a group as one of the core indicators of genocidal intent. The UN mission used precisely this language in its findings.
The RSF genocide Sudan finding and the war’s money trail
Sudan’s war, which began on 15 April 2023 between the Sudanese Armed Forces and the RSF, is sustained by a shadow economy of gold smuggling and illicit finance. Multiple investigations allege the RSF uses the United Arab Emirates as a marketplace for smuggled Sudanese gold, giving it hard currency that insulates it from sanctions and international pressure.
This is not simply a territorial fight. It is a contest over cash flow, commodities, and control of extraction networks that connect Darfur to Gulf markets.
For business readers, the war’s endurance is directly tied to the profitability of these networks.
Sudan’s Red Sea coastline adds another layer of strategic value. Gulf actors are interested in Sudanese seaports, agricultural land, and mineral resources.
Russia has also negotiated a naval facility on the Red Sea coast, a deal signed with the SAF in 2017 but not yet implemented.
The proxy war behind the atrocities
The BBC and other outlets report that the UAE is accused of supplying arms to the RSF, while Iran has been implicated in providing weaponry to the SAF. These external alliances have fuelled the conflict, expanded arms flows, and made consensus at the UN Security Council far harder to achieve.
Think-tank analyses describe Sudan as a multilayered proxy war shaped by regional powers and great-power competition. The interests of the United States, China, Russia, and Iran all intersect here, making the conflict a geoeconomic struggle over extraction and access.
The European Parliament has noted that external backing has turned a domestic civil conflict into a wider contest over influence in Africa. States back armed actors to secure ports, minerals, agricultural land, and strategic footholds along the Red Sea corridor.
Why this matters for global investors and the South-South corridor
Sudan sits at the intersection of the Horn of Africa, the Sahel, and the Red Sea corridor. The war has direct implications for shipping, migration, food security, and regional stability, all of which affect commodity markets and supply chains.
For Latin American readers, the Sudan conflict mirrors resource-driven instability seen in parts of the Amazon and the Andes. The pattern is familiar: armed groups funded by illicit extraction, external patrons seeking minerals and strategic access, and civilian populations caught in the middle. This is the core dynamic explored in our pillar series Africa: The New Scramble.
The US State Department had already formally determined that RSF members and allied militias committed genocide in Sudan. The UN findings now add a layer of international legal weight that could shape sanctions, asset freezes, and future prosecutions.
What to watch next
The UN findings increase pressure on the UAE and other external backers to cut financial and military lifelines to the RSF. Sanctions targeting gold networks and individuals linked to atrocity financing are likely to follow.
The genocide determination also opens a path toward international prosecutions, though legal processes move slowly and require sustained political will. In the meantime, the war economy continues to function, and civilians remain trapped between armed factions and foreign interests.
For markets, the key signal is whether gold traceability and sanctions enforcement can disrupt the financial flows that keep the RSF operational. If they cannot, the conflict will likely grind on, with humanitarian and geopolitical costs radiating far beyond Sudan’s borders.
Connected Coverage
Frequently Asked Questions
What did the UN probe find about RSF forces in Sudan?
The UN Independent International Fact-Finding Mission concluded in July 2026 that RSF forces committed genocide in El Fasher, Darfur. The findings included mass killings, gang rape, enforced disappearances, and the deliberate use of starvation against the Zaghawa and Fur communities during an 18-month siege.
How does gold smuggling fuel the Sudan conflict?
The RSF is widely alleged to use the United Arab Emirates as a marketplace for illicit Sudanese gold sales. This provides the paramilitary group with hard currency, insulating it from sanctions and allowing it to sustain its war effort through control of extraction networks and trade routes.
Which foreign powers are backing the warring sides in Sudan?
The UAE is accused of supplying arms to the RSF, while Iran has been implicated in providing weaponry to the Sudanese Armed Forces. Russia has also negotiated a naval facility on Sudan’s Red Sea coast, and the interests of the US, China, and regional Gulf states all intersect in the conflict.
Sources
Sources: UN Independent International Fact-Finding Mission for Sudan.
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