Human Rights Watch (HRW) said that Sudanese armed groups intentionally targeted civilians in attacks on January 10 in an investigative report on Wednesday, calling on the government to hold groups accountable. HRW said that the attacks constitute war crimes, and potentially crimes against humanity.
HRW reports that the attack was part of a broader series of assaults as the Sudan Shield Forces (SSF) sought to regain control of territories controlled by the Rapid Support Forces (RSF). The Sudan Shield Forces (SSF) is a militia group led by Abu Aqla Keikal that that fights alongside the Sudanese Armed Forces (SAF). The attacking groups included the SSF, the Islamist al-Baraa Ibn Malik battalion, and other allied militias. The SAF released a statement condemning the attacks, which it described as “individual violations.”
According to HRW, the SSF led the attack on Tayba, a village in Gezira state, central Sudan. According to first-hand accounts, the fighters were armed with heavy machine guns and “shot indiscriminately at men and boys,” while setting fire to buildings. In the afternoon, while villagers were burying victims of the attack, the SSF returned and attacked the village again, “going from house to house looking for men and boys, and again killing, looting, and burning,” according to witnesses. The attack resulted in 26 civilian deaths, including a child. It also reports that the SSF “systematically looted civilian property, including food supplies, and set fire to houses.” HRW says the witness accounts are corroborated by verified footage.
Killing of civilians and the looting and destruction of civilian property are war crimes under the Geneva Conventions. The international law doctrine of command responsibility outlines that military superiors or civilian leaders can be held criminally responsible for crimes committed by those in their command or subordinates.
HRW recommends that the attack be investigated, the Sudan Shields be suspended, the SAF publicly clarify its ties to the group, the UN and other organizations work to support and protect civilians in Sudan, and that the US, UK, and EU “actively support robust initiatives to protect” civilians such as sanctions, “travel bans and asset freezes”.
Sudan’s civil war has been ongoing since 2023. The conflict is primarily between the SAF, led by General Abdel Fattah al-Burhan, and the paramilitary RSF, led by Gen. Mohamed Dagalo. This has resulted in the world’s largest displacement crisis according to the UN, human rights abuses, war crimes, sexual violence, and famine, in what the UN says is a “humanitarian emergency of shocking proportions.”
A UN report, to be presented to the Human Rights Council on February 27, says that the “entrenched impunity” is “fuelling gross human rights violations and abuses”. UN human rights chief Volker Türk “stressed that accountability, regardless of the rank and affiliation of the perpetrators, is critical to breaking the recurring cycle of violence and impunity in Sudan.”
