Sudan: Unfolding atrocities fuel free expression crisis

After 18 months of siege, on 26 October, the paramilitary Rapid Support Forces captured El Fasher, igniting a new wave of unspeakable atrocities in Sudan. As horrors unfold in Darfur and across Sudan, ARTICLE 19 calls for an immediate ceasefire, the extension of the arms embargo, and for a special session of the Human Rights Council to address the situation in and around El Fasher and ensure urgent investigations. We also call for protection of all journalists, who continue to risk their lives to report on war crimes and ethnic cleansing perpetrated in one of the world's worst humanitarian crises today. 

Since April 2023, Sudan has been engulfed in a disastrous conflict between the Sudanese Armed Forces (SAF) and the paramilitary Rapid Support Forces (RSF), which has so far claimed at least 150,000 lives and displaced more than 12 million people.

After 18 months of siege and a relentless starvation campaign , which led to deaths of thousands of civilians, in late October, El Fasher, the capital of North Darfur, fell to the RSF.  In the immediate aftermath, the UN Office of the High Commissioner for Human Rights (OHCHR) in Sudan shared horrifying reports of mass killings, summary executions, sexual violence, and abductions - atrocities which the International Criminal Court has statedcould amount to war crimes and crimes against humanity. The fate of thousands who fled El Fasher remains unknown, with reports mounting of ethnic cleansing, as RSF fighters systematically target civilians from non-Arab tribes. Humanitarian researchers pointed to evidence of RSF digging up mass graves in a presumed attempt to 'clean up the massacre'. 

Killings and abductions silence journalists 

Journalists have also become victims of the unfolding horror. According to the Committee to Protect Journalists (CPJ), at least 14 have been killedsince the start of the war. In the aftermath of the El Fasher capture, CPJ received reports of 13 journalists and media workershaving gone missing; at least two of them have been captured by RSF. 

On 26 October, Moamar Ibrahim, who reported from El Fasher over the past two years, was detained and subsequently accused of 'defamation' over his coverage of the atrocities. RSF has also claimed that if he was not involved with any of the warring parties, there was 'no reason'for him to stay in El Fasher - blatantly disregarding the crucial role played by journalists in reporting in conflict zones and the fact that international humanitarian law explicitly protects journalists engaged in dangerous professional missions in areas of armed conflict. Accusations against Ibrahim follow a troubling pattern of smear campaigns perpetrated by both warring sides, designed to discredit journalists, accusing them of betrayal and taking sides in the conflict. 

As reported by CPJ , the fate of 6 journalists and media workers reporting on the fall of El Fasher remains uncertain. 

Reports also indicate that RSF has been specifically targeting humanitarian workers and activists supporting people with food and medicine, as well as documenting the realities of the siege. Following months of death threats and intimidation, Mohamed Khamis Douda,spokesperson for the Zamzam displacement camp, was killed by RSF on 26 October. 

The targeting of journalists and civilians constitutes a war crime. ARTICLE 19 calls for protection of journalists across Sudan and for immediate release of all those detained.  

The online information battlefield 

The killings, abductions and intimidation continue to happen with impunity across Sudan, at a time when 90% of media institutions have stopped operating, leaving the Sudanese people without access to lifesaving information. 

This lack of access is exacerbated by the continuing telecommunication blackout across Sudan. Much of the infrastructure has been destroyed , and SAF and RSF have both weaponisedinternet shutdowns to interrupt information flows, cut civilians off from vital communication, and impeded the delivery of humanitarian aid. 

While El Fasher was plunged into near complete telecommunication darkness, some of the main sources of information remaining have come from RSF itself, which has been using the online networks it controls to spread brazen propaganda, broadcasting and celebrating the war crimes committed by its soldiers. Live videos of mass executions, degrading treatment of civilians, some of which amount to incitement to violence, spread across the internet. The OHCHR has also documented a rise in online hate speech and incitement to violence, as both RSF and SAF continue to weaponise social media and the digital information space to manipulate narratives on the conflict.

In times of conflict, access to reliable information is a matter of life and death. Access to telecommunications and the internet in El Fasher, Darfur, and all of Sudan must be restored. 

ARTICLE 19 also urges social media companies to uphold their responsibility to respect international human rights and humanitarian law and to take robust action to stop their platforms being used to incite violence and further fuel atrocities, while ensuring any evidence of such incitement or war crimes is preserved. 

Time for action is now 

After 18 months of what many dubbed a 'forgotten war', the unspeakable horrors of El Fasher have increased global attention on the conflict. Now it's time for concrete and sustained political action to put an end to the atrocities. 

ARTICLE 19 joins the calls for an immediate ceasefire and the halting of arms flows to Sudan. The United Nations Security Council must extend the existing arms embargo to the whole of Sudan, not just Darfur, and ensure that embargo is properly implemented. 

We also join civil society partners in calling for a special session of the Human Rights Councilto address the situation in and around El Fasher, and ensure urgent investigations. The Council should task the Independent International Fact-Finding Mission for Sudan to prepare a flash report to document atrocities being committed in and around El Fasher. The report should then be presented to the UN Security Council for discussion and immediate action. 

Those responsible for the severe violations of international humanitarian law and international human rights law, including freedom of expression, must face consequences. ARTICLE 19 urges the Independent International Fact-Finding Mission on Sudanand the International Criminal Court to specifically consider how the information war in Sudan exacerbates harm to civilians, obstructs vital documentation of gross human rights and humanitarian law violations, and contributes to the commission of crimes.

Any sustained action will only be possible if international pressure does not relent. The devastating crisis did not begin with the fall of El Fasher. The international community, and international media, must no longer turn a blind eye. Sudan cannot be allowed to become a 'forgotten war' once more.