JUSTICE INFO: In the Fact-Finding Mission for the Sudan (FFM)’s latest report, you say that the Rapid Support Forces’ (RSF) conduct in and around El Fasher, in the North Darfur state, has the hallmarks of genocide. Can you explain why?
MONA RISHMAWI: We talk about the events before and after the RSF takeover of El Fasher at the end of October 2025. The takeover was preceded by about 18 months of siege, without any food, humanitarian assistance or medical assistance, and at one stage water became very scarce. So, conditions of life for that encircled population were very difficult.
Also, there were attacks at various stages. In April 2025, there were major attacks [by RSF] on the IDP [internally displaced persons] camps around El Fasher which led to massive displacement. After some people left, they built kind of sand walls around the city, so it became extremely difficult to exit the city. By the RSF takeover of El Fasher we had already a very weakened population. And there were specific sites where a lot of massacres took place, such as at the Saudi hospital, in and around the airport, at the university, in and around the exit routes [from El Fasher]. People who were trying to exit the city were also attacked. Basically, men were killed and women were raped, although of course women were killed as well.
Most of it was ethnically targeted against the Zaghawa, as well as the Masalit and Fur. El Fasher is a city where historically most of its people were Zaghawa. From the testimonies we collected and the digital evidence, listening to the perpetrators themselves and what witnesses told us about the perpetrators, we concluded that the intention was to destroy these groups as such in this city. That’s why we said “hallmarks of genocide”.
Were there alleged perpetrators saying online that was their intent?
Yes. Some of the testimonies say they were looking for particular groups, and some of the digital evidence confirms that.
You say in the report that the conflict has spread to Kordofan (central Sudan). Have you also documented serious crimes there?
What we said twice was that we feared for Kordofan, because the town of El-Obeid was also under siege by the RSF. The siege is now broken, as far as I know, but we are worried about this modus operandi where you weaken the population, then you go in and massacre. The conflict has spread to Kordofan, and what we have seen in the past few weeks is attacks by both RSF and SAF [Sudanese Armed Forces] on hospitals. That is what happened before, with the Saudi hospital in El Fasher hit multiple times.
Are there other areas of Sudan that you are particularly worried about?
Absolutely. There are other areas like Blue Nile, White Nile, the Nuba mountains, and attacks on civilian infrastructure throughout Sudan. We have been hearing about drone attacks throughout.
Your latest report focuses on crimes committed by the RSF. What about the SAF?
A few months ago, we released a report calling it a “war of atrocities”, in which we say there have been war crimes, in some cases possible crimes against humanity, by both sides. Torture, for example, by both sides. Sexual violence is more by the RSF. The attacks on civilian infrastructure are by both sides, unfortunately.
Coming back to Darfur, the previous war [2003-2008] targeted the same ethnic groups, and led the International Criminal Court (ICC) to issue arrest warrants against ex-president Omar Al-Bashir, including for genocide. Why has that warrant not been implemented?
[Omar Al-Bashir] has to be handed over to the ICC. He was not handed over during the transitional government, although there were negotiations, and then the civilian government fell. The only one so far tried and convicted by the ICC is Ali Kushayb. We know that Mr. Bashir is free, and I don’t think the other people indicted by the ICC are in prison. They need to be found and handed over, and this is what we have been saying to the Sudanese government.
In your latest report, you call on States to protect civilians and stop supplying arms to the warring parties. Which States are we talking about?
There is an arms embargo on Darfur, and there is a specialist panel of experts that looks at respect of the arms embargo. The panel of experts has concluded that this embargo has been breached quite seriously by the warring parties and the States of influence [those that support them]. Our call is for the arms embargo to be respected and also extended to the entire Sudan.
Sudan has, for example, filed a symbolic complaint at the International Court of Justice against the United Arab Emirates, accusing it of supporting the RSF…
We are looking into these allegations and engaging with a number of concerned States. We mentioned in one of our reports last year that there are actually 16 countries supplying arms.
The FFM says justice and protecting civilians cannot wait. What justice measures are you calling for now?
Support for the ICC, and handing over of indicted people. For States to exercise universal jurisdiction, because we think there are war crimes, crimes against humanity, and we have flagged genocide in the case of El Fasher. We are asking for a special judicial mechanism, because the amount of crimes that have been committed is so huge and we have not seen impartial justice by the domestic system.
Have you thought about what such a mechanism should look like? Should it be in Sudan or somewhere else, under the auspices of the United Nations, African Union?
It can be any of these things. I actually think that there are a lot of Sudanese who are capable of rendering impartial justice. But you need the political will. As for who can do it, it could be a group of States, the UN, the African Union, IGAD [Intergovernmental Authority on Development in eastern African]. It could be part of a peace agreement between the warring parties. There are so many possibilities, but again you need the political will to make it happen.
Coming back to Darfur, all the arrest warrants so far by the ICC are in relation to the previous war. But the ICC Prosecutor announced that he is also investigating the more recent crimes. Do you think we will see arrest warrants soon?
I hope so, for RSF and others. The ICC has jurisdiction on Darfur. We know from the reports of the Prosecutor to the Security Council that they were looking at the situation in El Geneina, they are now looking at El Fasher, they were looking at Nyala. And hopefully we will learn more about the measures they are taking. Don’t forget that the ICC can issue arrest warrants under seal.
In the longer term, and especially if there is a peace agreement, do you think there should be some form of transitional justice?
Absolutely. You know, in Sudan they have a lot of experience, and we captured some of it in our report “paths to justice”. They tried to do something in 2019 after the mass protests. They had a transitional justice commission, they had a law and started national consultations. I think one of the lessons learned is that the process was very Khartoum-centred, and if we have a transitional justice process today it has to take into account the specificities of different regions. I would like to see a lot more support for victims, more vetting and institutional reform to ensure there is no repetition of these crimes.
Mona Rishmawi is a Palestinian Swiss lawyer specializing in human rights, international humanitarian law, transitional justice, gender and racial justice. She currently serves as a member of the UN’s Independent International Fact-Finding Mission for the Sudan, and is an expert at the Geneva Academy. She has held various senior UN positions, on Darfur (2004-2005), in Somalia (1996-2000) and for Syria (2022-23), among other posts. Earlier in her career, she practiced law from 1981-1991 in the West Bank, Occupied Palestinian Territory, and played a senior role within Palestinian human rights organization Al-Haq.
