RSF Claims Arrests in Sudan’s El Fasher as UN Warns of “Horrendous Accounts” of Atrocities and Potential War Crimes

The conflict in Sudan has reached a new level of brutality, with the United Nations Human Rights Office issuing a stark warning on Friday, October 31, 2025, about “horrendous accounts” of atrocities committed by the paramilitary Rapid Support Forces (RSF) following their takeover of El Fasher in North Darfur. This UN condemnation was met with skepticism as the RSF announced it had arrested some of its own fighters involved in the abuses.

The RSF released photos and videos claiming to show the detention of several fighters, including a commander known as Abu Lulu, who had allegedly appeared in execution videos online after the group seized the city on Sunday. The RSF declared the arrests were a commitment to “law, rules of conduct and military discipline.”

However, UN officials and human rights campaigners immediately dismissed the arrests as a possible “PR stunt” designed to deflect international anger over the scale of the violence.

The UN’s human rights office spokesperson, Seif Magango, reported that since the RSF made a major incursion into El Fasher last week, the office has received harrowing testimonies detailing summary executions, mass killings, rapes, and attacks against humanitarian workers. Disturbing reports included the alleged gang-rape of at least 25 women at a shelter and the killing of hundreds of patients and companions inside the Al-Saudi Maternity Hospital and other makeshift medical centers.

Magango warned that the sheer volume and severity of these latest reports of serious violations potentially amount to numerous crimes under international law.

The violence has triggered a massive humanitarian crisis, with more than 36,000 people fleeing the city, mostly on foot, in the past week alone, desperately seeking safety in already overcrowded displacement camps. The UN reiterated its call for independent, transparent, and prompt investigations into all breaches of international law, stressing the urgent need for states with influence to act immediately to halt the flow of arms and ensure the protection of civilians in Darfur.