‘Route of death’: rapes and executions during civilian flight reveal humanitarian collapse in Sudan

Atrocities in Sudan could be war crimes, warns International Criminal Court Since the city of El Fasher, in western Sudan, was taken by paramilitary forces on October 26, 2025, 3,000 people have died. Of the total number of victims, 2,000 were civilians, according to the Sudanese Doctors Network and other international organizations. ✅ Follow the g1 international news channel on WhatsApp Eleven days after the attack, an analysis of videos, photos, satellite images and testimonies gathered by investigators reveals the extent of the violence and massacres that occurred during and after the seizure of the capital of North Darfur by the Rapid Support Forces (RSF). Since the city of El Fasher was taken by the RSF, more than 25,000 people have fled towards Tawila, around 70 kilometers away. The place, which already housed hundreds of thousands of internally displaced people, became one of the main points of refuge amid the escalation of violence in the country. Today, it is estimated that around 700,000 people are concentrated in the region — a number that grows every week. The death toll from the crisis may also be higher than estimated. Rodrigue Alitanou, director of operations for the humanitarian organization Alima in Sudan, told RFI that the most recurrent testimonies among new arrivals are of rapes and murders committed while fleeing. “These are reports of unspeakable sexual violence, of men executed in front of their families, of children who saw their parents killed. The trauma is deep and still very present,” he says. The crossing between El Fasher and Tawila is mostly done on foot. According to Alitanou, the few means of transport available — carts and animals — are often confiscated by armed groups along the way. “Many are searched, threatened, persecuted. There are civilians who are actively sought by military forces. The movement is extremely dangerous”, he explains. The road, now known as the “death route”, symbolizes the collapse of security in the region. MORE Mahmoud Hjaj/ AP In Tawila, improvised camps are multiplying. Overcrowding is critical. “We are already in the third camp, and new spaces continue to be occupied. People live in precarious shelters, sleeping on the floor”, reports Alitanou. Promiscuity and lack of basic sanitation aggravate the risk of disease. “The cholera epidemic, which we thought was under control, has grown again”, he warns. The healthcare infrastructure is collapsing. “Since the beginning of the year, we have faced a shortage of financial and human resources. The crisis is underfunded. Our professionals are exhausted, overworked. We need medicines, equipment and more organizations operating here”, says the director of Alima, one of the few entities still operating in the region. Given the seriousness of the situation, a humanitarian truce was proposed by a group of countries involved in negotiations over Sudan. The RSF paramilitaries accepted the agreement, but distrust persists. “We want to believe, because it is urgent. People can’t take it anymore. The international community needs to get involved, to press for effective peace. We cannot relive the horrors of Geneina, Wad Madani or El Fasher”, says Alitanou, referring to the regions attacked in recent months. Alima continues to operate in Tawila, offering basic health care amid the chaos. But the appeal is clear: without international reinforcement, without broad humanitarian coordination and without a real commitment to peace, Sudan will continue to be plunged into a crisis that has already exceeded all limits of human resistance. Abuses displayed on social media Images show crisis in Sudan AP/Photomontage RFI Two organizations — the Sudan War Monitor and the Humanitarian Research Laboratory at the Yale University School of Public Health — this week released an investigation based on dozens of images and videos that document abuses committed by paramilitaries, recorded and commented on by the authors themselves, who then publish them on social media. In one of the videos, paramilitaries walk among dead bodies inside the Saudi Maternity Hospital, in El Fasher. A still-alive patient tries to sit up and is immediately shot. A man is heard saying: “There is one alive there, kill him!” Then, whoever was filming leaves the building and shows dozens of bodies — all civilians — spread across the courtyard. A paramilitary woman incites other fighters to rape civilian women. Based on verified videos and testimonies, Sudan War Monitor concluded that, after entering El Fasher, the paramilitaries spread across several neighborhoods, invading homes and hospitals, executing civilians — in some cases, for ethnic reasons. In other videos, residents on their knees beg their families to pay the ransoms demanded by the RSF for their release. In one of them, a well-known figure from the city appears, Dr. Abbas, professor of psychology at the University of El Fasher. All these records, which document the violence that occurred in El Fasher, could one day be used to hold the perpetrators of these crimes legally responsible. VIDEOS: trending on g1 See videos that are trending on g1

Source link