Geneva: At least 1,013 civilians were killed during an offensive by Sudan's paramilitary Rapid Support Forces (RSF) on Zamzam internally displaced persons camp from 11 to 13 April, a UN Human Rights Office report revealed on Thursday.
According to Kuwait News Agency, the report described a "consistent pattern of serious violations of international humanitarian law and gross abuses of international human rights law." It detailed widespread killings, rape, and other forms of sexual violence, torture, and abductions committed during the three-day offensive by the RSF on the Zamzam camp.
"Such deliberate killing of civilians or persons hors de combat may constitute the war crime of murder," UN High Commissioner for Human Rights Volker Turk was quoted as saying in the report. He called for "an impartial thorough and effective investigation into the attack on the Zamzam IDP camp" and emphasized that "those responsible for serious violations of international law must be punished within fair proceedings." Turk also noted the consistency of these violations with those documented during the RSF takeover of Al-Fasher in late October.
The report emphasized the need for all States, especially those with influence, to prevent atrocities, urgently act to prevent the commission of crimes under international law, and halt the supply, sale, or transfer of arms that fuel the conflict.
The report outlined that 319 individuals were summarily executed, either in the camp or while trying to flee. Some were killed during house-to-house searches by the RSF, while others were targeted in the main market, schools, health facilities, and mosques. The offensive displaced more than 400,000 inhabitants of the camp once again.
The report also highlighted patterns of conflict-related sexual violence. At least 104 survivors, including 75 women, 26 girls, and three boys, mostly from the Zaghawa ethnic group, experienced severe sexual violence, such as rape, gang rape, and sexual slavery, both during the attack and along escape routes.
"Sexual violence appears to have been deliberately used to inflict terror among the community," the report noted.
The RSF had previously blocked the entry of essential goods like food, water, and fuel into the Zamzam camp, systematically attacking those attempting to bring in supplies. The report confirmed that 26 individuals were apprehended and executed along the road between Zamzam camp and Tawila, serving as a warning against efforts to supply food. In desperation, many families resorted to feeding children animal feed, such as peanut shells, to survive.
The report is based on monitoring by the UN Human Rights Office, including interviews conducted in July 2025 with 155 survivors and witnesses in eastern Chad.