UN Vows Accountability as Fact-Finding Mission Probes Mass Killings in Sudan

The United Nations has announced the launch of an independent fact-finding mission to investigate reports of mass killings in the Sudanese city of El-Fasher, pledging that those responsible will be identified and held to account. The move comes amid intensifying concerns over the scale of atrocities committed during Sudan’s ongoing civil war.

Speaking at an emergency meeting in Geneva on Friday, UN human rights chief Volker Türk issued a sharp rebuke to the international community, accusing global powers of responding with “too much pretence and performance, and too little action” as the conflict continues to devastate the country. “The world must stand up against these atrocities,” he warned, describing the violence as “a display of naked cruelty used to subjugate and control an entire population.”

Turk emphasized that the fact-finding mission will not only investigate the violence but also work to identify individual perpetrators, signaling a stronger push for accountability after months of mounting civilian casualties. More than 150,000 people have been killed since the conflict erupted, and an estimated 12 million Sudanese have been forced to flee their homes.

El-Fasher, the last major city in Darfur held by the Sudanese army, fell to the paramilitary Rapid Support Forces (RSF) last month after an 18-month siege. The RSF has been accused of carrying out targeted killings against non-Arab communities across Darfur, accusations the group denies. The fall of the city has fueled fears of escalating violence against civilians trapped by fighting and cut off from humanitarian aid.

A striking feature of Sudan’s two-year civil war has been the volume of graphic videos and images circulating online, many apparently filmed by the perpetrators themselves. UN investigators say this digital material—previously used in documenting war crimes in other regions—will be thoroughly analyzed as part of the push to secure justice.

Mona Rishmawi, a member of the UN’s fact-finding mission, said the situation in El-Fasher is unlike anything she has witnessed in more than two decades of working on Sudan. She told the BBC that the scale of suffering in Darfur today surpasses the atrocities committed by the Janjaweed militia 20 years ago. The RSF, she noted, traces its origins to that same militia.

While earlier violence was concentrated in villages, Rishmawi said entire cities and refugee camps are now under attack, leaving hundreds of thousands at risk. “There have been devastating mass killings, rape and torture, disappearances, missing people—all against the background of 18 months of siege and starvation,” she said.

Earlier this week, G7 nations issued a joint statement condemning the escalating violence, calling the conflict between the army and the RSF “the world’s largest humanitarian crisis.”