A damning new investigation by the United Nations has concluded that the Rapid Support Forces (RSF) committed acts bearing the "hallmarks of genocide" during their brutal siege and capture of El-Fasher. The report details a systematic campaign of ethnic cleansing targeting the Zaghawa and Fur communities, shattering the last vestiges of safety in North Darfur.

This is not merely a war crime; it is a calculated attempt at erasure. The UN Fact-Finding Mission, chaired by Mohamad Chande Othman, has delivered a verdict that the international community can no longer ignore. The report documents "three days of absolute horror" following the RSF's takeover, where the paramilitary forces, emboldened by impunity, unleashed a wave of mass killings, sexual violence, and torture designed to physically destroy specific non-Arab ethnic groups.

The Anatomy of a Massacre

The fall of El-Fasher, the last stronghold of the Sudanese Armed Forces (SAF) in Darfur, was feared for months. When the defenses finally crumbled, the reality was worse than the direst predictions. The UN investigation reveals that the RSF did not just defeat a military opponent; they turned their weapons on the civilian population with a specific, genocidal intent.

Survivors who managed to flee to Chad and South Sudan described a hellscape where ethnicity was a death sentence. "They didn't ask for ID cards to check names; they looked at our faces," one survivor recounted to investigators. The report authenticates videos and corroborates testimonies showing summary executions in the streets, the burning of displacement camps, and the systematic rape of women and girls as a weapon of war. The intent, according to the mission, was clear: to destroy the Zaghawa and Fur communities in whole or in part.

• Systematic Targeting: The report identifies specific orders given to "cleanse" neighborhoods of non-Arab populations, refuting RSF claims of collateral damage.
• Sexual Violence: Rape was used not just for terror, but as a biological weapon to destroy the social fabric of the targeted communities.
• Humanitarian Blockade: The siege preceding the assault was calculated to weaken the population through starvation and lack of medical supplies, a tactic the UN classifies as a crime against humanity.

A Global Failure to Act

The release of this report in February 2026 serves as a grim indictment of international inaction. For over 18 months, warnings from human rights watchdogs and the African Union were met with diplomatic hand-wringing but little concrete intervention. The "Never Again" promise of the post-Rwanda era has once again rung hollow in the dusty streets of Darfur.

Analysts suggest that this finding of genocide triggers legal obligations for UN member states to intervene, yet the geopolitical complexity of the Sudan conflict—involving proxy interests from the Gulf and beyond—continues to paralyze the Security Council. Meanwhile, the RSF leadership remains defiant, dismissing the report as "biased fabrication" even as satellite imagery confirms the scorching of entire neighborhoods.

As the dust settles over the ruins of El-Fasher, the world is left with the documentation of a crime it failed to prevent. The question now shifts from "what happened?" to "who will be held accountable?" For the victims, justice remains a distant, flickering hope amidst the ashes of their homes.