Sudan: End ethnicity-based attacks on civilians, including women, in Aljazeera

On 9 January 2025, at least 13 women were abducted by armed forces affiliated to the Sudanese Armed Forces (SAF) in areas of Kambo Taiba in Aljazeera. Two children were killed according to local leaders, who reported killings and beatings of a number of women in the area. The victims of these attacks are from western Sudan, Darfur and South Sudan. These incidents of widespread attacks against the civilian population targeting people from specific ethnic backgrounds, came after SAF gained control over Madani city, the Capital of Aljazeera state, from the Rapid Support Forces (RSF) in the last couple of weeks. The attackers filmed themselves proudly killing, beating and insulting women and men from western Sudan and South Sudan. 

In one of the videos, SAF soldiers beat and humiliated a 50-year-old mother, accusing her of giving water to RSF soldiers. At least 6 men were killed in a village in the East of Aljazeera, and dozens were killed, detained or forcibly disappeared, including women. Homes were burnt, while thousands of civilians were forced to leave their slums around Aljazeera. The communities targeted by these atrocities are agricultural workers, dominantly from western Sudan, working in ‘Aljazeera agricultural scheme’ since the 1930s. They live in slums around the villages and farms which used to be camps in the past. This community has suffered from ethnic, economic and political marginalisation for decades. When the RSF imposed control on Aljazeera in December 2023, the community was labeled as supportive of the RSF on ethnic grounds by SAF and its supporting militias. These reprisal attacks come as retaliation on an ethnic basis against the whole community, which has led to killings and violence against women and girls during the last week. 

On 15 January 2025, the South Sudanese government summoned the Sudanese ambassador in Juba on grounds of ethnic targeting and killing of numbers of its citizens in Aljazeera. The attacks against the South Sudanese came in continuation of the pattern of attacks on ethnic basics and suspicions of some connections with RSF. The South Sudanese government did not mention the numbers of those impacted by these incidents. 

This pattern of ethnic targeting is replicated in many areas that recently came under SAF control in the last few months, specifically in northern Khartoum, Omdurman and Aljazeera. Reprisals against people from western Sudan included detention of activists and volunteers as well as presenting some detainees to swift trials under charges of treason of the State. These aggressions are fueled by dissemination of hate speech and widespread false information on social media. Fighting parties are using hate speech and social media propaganda to instigate violence and recruit fighters based on tribal and ethnic affiliation. 

RSF forces scattered in different areas in Aljazeera continue to commit war crimes, kill people based on their tribal affiliations, loot and intimidate thousands in Rufaa, Abugoota and Abu Ushar areas. In Albashagra in Aljazeera, there were reports of women beaten and men tortured by RSF on Monday 20 January. RSF violations in several areas in Aljazeera are ethnically motivated against residents from specific tribal groups. 

We, the undersigned organisations, call on: 

• fighting parties to end all forms of ethnicity-based attacks on civilians in Aljazeera, Darfur, Khartoum and other conflict areas 
• the Special Adviser on the Responsibility to Protect and the Special Adviser on the Prevention of Genocide to issue a joint response to the situation in Sudan
• the Fact-Finding Mission on Sudan to investigate and report on these violations 
• States to support the International Criminal Court investigations, and expansion of its jurisdiction to all conflict regions in Sudan following the war of April 2023, emphasising the need for justice and accountability for the millions of Sudanese awaiting justice
• States to exert pressure on the fighting parties, including through statements at the UN Human Rights Council, at the UN Security Council and the African Commission on Human and Peoples Rights, urging them to end all forms of attacks that target specific ethnic groups in Aljazeera, Darfur, Khartoum and other conflict areas

Signatories:

1. Sudanese Women’s Rights Action
2. International Service for Human Rights
3. The Regional Coalition for Women Human Rights Defenders in South West Asia and North Africa (WHRDMENA)
4. Sudan Peace and Security Monitor