Finishing the (Sudanese) genocide?
The Zamzam camp sprang up in 2003, 15km (9.3 miles) from North Darfur’s capital, el-Fasher, to shelter “non-Arab” Zaghawa and Fur communities, which fled Popular Defence Forces’ violence during the first Darfur war.
Both communities suffered genocidal levels of violence and were expelled from their lands by the state-backed Janjaweed. Zamzam soon became a symbol of the atrocities they endured.

A makeshift bunker dug by civilians in el-Fasher as a hideout from clashes between the RSF and the Sudanese army
Some 350,000 people settled in the camp, swelling to more than half a million as the RSF and the army went to war and the paramilitary group captured South, East, West and Central Darfur states in late 2023.
In April 2024, the RSF besieged el-Fasher and surrounding towns after the Joint Forces – a coalition of “non-Arab” armed groups formed to fight the government in the past – shed their neutrality and sided with the army.
Given the RSF’s track record of enmity towards “non-Arab” ethnic groups, the Joint Forces feared widespread ethnic killings if the RSF captured the entire state.
The RSF blocked aid from anyone not aligned with them, leading to famine in Zamzam. As civilians withered away from hunger, the RSF began claiming that Zamzam was a “military base”, revealing its intention to attack.
“This claim that there was a military base in Zamzam was never correct … we had some people who acted as a police force, but there were no military leaders in the camp,” said Mosab, a middle-aged man who survived the killing in Zamzam and now languishes in the nearby town of Tawila.
Musabel, the RSF adviser, told Al Jazeera that the high civilian death toll was due to the Joint Forces using “human shields”, without providing evidence.
Ethnic cleansing
The RSF has also mimicked the Israeli tactic of carrying out mass expulsions under a humanitarian guise.
Since October 7, 2023, Israel has pushed 2.3 million Palestinians into smaller and smaller pockets of land, which it describes as “safe zones” in Gaza.
Israel bombs or invades those areas, claiming they “became military targets” due to the ostensible presence of someone from Hamas there.
“What Israel has done in Gaza, in reality, has been issuing mass expulsion orders under threats of extermination, which is a declaration of intent to commit international crimes,” Nottingham Law School’s Daniele said.
On April 11, Tasis posted on Facebook, calling for civilians to flee Zamzam through what it called “humanitarian corridors” leading to nearby towns such as Tawila and Korma.

Screengrab of the Tasis Facebook post claiming it was helping safe humanitarian evacuations
Yet on April 27, an RSF commander was seen announcing the detention of a group of unarmed men who fled Zamzam through a supposed humanitarian corridor to Tawila, in a video verified by Al Jazeera’s authentication unit, Sanad.
He said the men had sided against their Darfuri brethren and with the traditional elite, represented in the “Arab” Jalaba tribes who live in central and northern Sudan and comprise much of Sudan’s military and political elite. He added that they might kill the detained men to serve as an example to others.
The RSF has framed its war against the army as a fight on behalf of peripheral tribes against the central elite, while at the same time committing egregious abuses against the most marginalised tribes in Darfur. [Like Israel is now using the Druze as excuse to keep attacking Syria, while discriminating against them in Israel]
The detainees were relief workers, according to local monitors, who fear they were killed. Al Jazeera was unable to confirm their fate. Survivors told Al Jazeera that the RSF had carried out ethnic cleansing, possibly amounting to several war crimes.
“Some of us were executed [by the RSF] along [the road out of Zamzam] and others were violently displaced,” said Mohamed Idriss*, who walked for 13 hours before arriving in el-Fasher.
“We were exposed to so many violations, [the RSF] committed massacres and ethnic cleansing,” he told Al Jazeera.
No ICJ advice here
ICJ dismisses Sudan’s genocide case alleging UAE backing of RSF rebels
The top United Nations court has dismissed a case brought by Sudan accusing the United Arab Emirates (UAE) of breaching the UN Genocide Convention by arming and funding the rebel paramilitary Rapid Support Forces in Sudan’s deadly civil war.
The International Court of Justice (ICJ) said on Monday that it “manifestly lacked” the authority to continue the proceedings and threw out the case.
https://www.icj-cij.org/case/197
In its Order, the Court observes that it may indicate provisional measures only if the provisions relied on by the applicant appear, prima facie, to afford a basis on which its jurisdiction could be founded. The Court further notes that the United Arab Emirates (the “UAE”), when acceding to the Genocide Convention, formulated a reservation to Article IX, seeking to exclude the jurisdiction of the Court.
(Article IX: Disputes between the Contracting Parties relating to the interpretation, application or fulfilment of the present Convention, including those relating to the responsibility of a State for genocide or for any of the other acts enumerated in article III [III (e) Complicity in genocide], shall be submitted to the International Court of Justice at the request of any of the parties to the dispute.)
Having regard to the UAE’s reservation to Article IX of the Genocide Convention, the Court observes that Article IX of that Convention cannot constitute, prima facie, a basis for the jurisdiction of the Court in the present case. It follows that the Court cannot indicate the provisional measures requested.
Moreover, the Court considers that, in light of the UAE’s reservation and in the absence of any other basis of jurisdiction, the Court manifestly lacks jurisdiction to entertain Sudan’s Application. The case will therefore be removed from its docket.
The difference between Palestine and Sudan is that Palestine has ratified the Rome Statute, Sudan has not. UAE and Israel haven't either, but in this case it's 2 non parties asking the ICJ for a ruling, while in the case of Gaza they do fall under the jurisdiction of the ICJ.
Meanwhile RSF continues attacking Aid lifelines
https://www.aljazeera.com/news/2025/5/7/port-sudan-explosions-lifeline-for-aid-comes-under-attack-for-fourth-day

Since Sunday, Port Sudan has been the target of drone attacks that the army has blamed on the Rapid Support Forces.
Targeting Aid has become the norm now, in Gaza, in Yemen, in Sudan.
Last edited by SvennoJ - on 07 May 2025