The United Nations Human Rights Council (UN HRC) has authorised an independent fact‑finding mission to investigate alleged mass atrocities in Al‑Fashir, the capital of Sudan’s North Darfur state, following credible reports of widespread abuses since the city fell under the control of the Rapid Support Forces (RSF) on 26 October 2025.
The resolution, adopted during a special session in Geneva, tasks the mission with gathering evidence of “ethnically‑motivated killings, sexual violence, torture and other serious violations of human rights and humanitarian law” and to identify suspected perpetrators for possible accountability.
Human Rights Commissioner Volker Türk said the atrocity reports were “foreseen and preventable” and constituted “the gravest of crimes”. Satellite imagery and field reports, including by Yale University’s Humanitarian Research Lab, show excavation of mass graves and widespread corpse removal at Al‑Fashir.
According to the UN’s Office of the High Commissioner for Human Rights (OHCHR), hundreds of civilians were allegedly executed in the streets, women were subjected to sexual violence, and healthcare facilities were deliberately targeted by RSF forces.
More than 90,000 people are reported to have fled Al‑Fashir and its surroundings, where food supplies had been cut off during an 18‑month siege, resulting in confirmed famine conditions in the city and other nearby areas. The Integrated Food Security Phase Classification (IPC) marked Al‑Fashir and Kadugli as famine‑affected urban zones, the first classification of its kind in the conflict.
The fact‑finding mission will operate under the UNHRC’s mandate and will work alongside Sudanese civil society, humanitarian organisations and international legal bodies, including the International Criminal Court (ICC), which is already collecting evidence of war crimes in Darfur.
Both the Sudanese Armed Forces (SAF) and the RSF deny the most serious allegations. The RSF has dismissed claims of systematic targeting of civilians as propaganda, while the Sudanese government has reiterated that the country is engaged in “existential warfare” against multiple armed groups.
The resolution calls for unrestricted humanitarian access to Al‑Fashir and surrounding areas, stressing that civilians must be protected and that aid flows restored immediately. With tens of thousands still trapped under dire conditions, global attention is now focused on how swiftly the UN‑mandated mission can operate on the ground and produce actionable findings.
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