Burning of Corpses to Conceal Crimes: The Dark Secret of “El Fasher” in Sudan

The Sudan Doctors Network announced that the militias of the Rapid Support Forces (RSF) burned the bodies of some victims in the city of El Fasher with the aim of concealing their crimes.

According to Rokna, citing the news outlet Al-Ahed, the Sudan Doctors Network reported today that the RSF collected hundreds of corpses in El Fasher, located in western Sudan, and while some were buried, others were burned in an effort to hide evidence of their crimes against humanity.

The Sudan Doctors Network added that what is happening in El Fasher represents some of the most brutal inhumane behavior, and these incidents are not isolated events but rather a new chapter in the genocidal crimes perpetrated by the RSF.

The report stated that the Rapid Support Forces violate all international and religious norms regarding the mutilation of corpses and deprive the deceased of the right to a dignified burial.

The Sudan Doctors Network also held the RSF fully responsible for these crimes and called on the international community to take immediate action to conduct independent international investigations into the El Fasher incidents.

The report emphasized that the situation in El Fasher has surpassed the threshold of a humanitarian disaster, reaching the level of targeted genocide aimed at endangering human life and dignity amid shameful international silence.

In this regard, on Sunday, Moatasem Ahmed Saleh, Sudan’s Minister of Human Resources and Social Welfare, stated that the RSF severely harasses those trapped in El Fasher.

Referring to the “humanitarian disaster” in El Fasher, he added that citizens remain under siege in the city, and RSF militias prevent them from leaving, exposing them to various forms of abuse.

He also noted that the number of victims following the RSF’s assault on El Fasher has reached tens of thousands.

The latest round of Sudan’s civil war began on April 15, 2023, between the army led by Abdel Fattah al-Burhan and the RSF commanded by Mohamed Hamdan Dagalo, known as “Hemedti,” over power and tensions regarding the integration of RSF into the army following the 2021 coup. International mediation efforts to end the conflict have so far yielded no results.

Recently, following the RSF’s takeover of El Fasher in western Sudan, Khartoum authorities, the United Nations, and other international organizations have accused the RSF of committing “massacres and widespread human rights violations against civilians” in the city.

These accusations include field executions, arbitrary detentions, and forced displacement of residents. The RSF, which had besieged El Fasher for over a year, captured the city on Sunday, October 26, and reportedly committed extensive crimes against civilians.

Since gaining independence in 1956, Sudan has experienced prolonged unrest, including 20 coup attempts and two devastating civil wars—one from 1955 to 1972 and another from 1983 to 2005—which ultimately led to the independence and secession of South Sudan in 2011.