Sudan Events – Agencies
A report published by The New York Times reveals yet another chapter of horror unfolding in the Darfur region of western Sudan. On April 13, the Rapid Support Forces (RSF)—currently at war with the Sudanese army—seized control of Zamzam Camp, the country’s largest camp for internally displaced persons.
The report’s author, Emtithal Mahmoud, an American activist and poet of Sudanese origin, stated that the only constant in this two-year-long war of attrition is the suffering of civilians, who continue to bear the brunt of violations committed by both warring parties.
She said the people of Darfur vividly remember the attacks they endured in the early 2000s, which were internationally recognized in 2003 as acts of genocide and are currently under review by the International Criminal Court. She added that both the United States and a United Nations genocide prevention expert have warned that these atrocities are at risk of being repeated.
The American activist argued that the genocide in Darfur is far from over. She cited evidence of ethnic cleansing, including the 2013 massacre in El Geneina (capital of West Darfur), the siege of El Fasher (capital of North Darfur), the burning of dozens of villages in recent months, and the atrocities committed at Zamzam Camp—all pointing to a pattern of ethnic cleansing by the RSF.
“Our lives and our existence as Sudanese people are in danger,” she said, noting that the RSF has unleashed death and destruction in Zamzam Camp. Continuous shelling and indiscriminate gunfire have killed 400 people, including children, humanitarian workers, community leaders, and members of the author’s own family.
Among the missing are 58 women and girls from the extended family of the Sudanese-American poet. Eyewitnesses claim that RSF forces abducted them.
