In the centre of Sudan, escalation of armed conflict has already sent families fleeing and survivors in dire need. Musab Hassan, of the Zaghawa community of Darfur, finds himself in a nightmare. He is intentionally misled about the future of his family. Abdelazziz, his younger brother, is an aid worker based in El-Fasher. On October 26, the paramilitary Rapid Support Forces (RSF) abducted him shortly before the RSF seized control of the city. Yet with the conflict only digging deeper into violence, Musab’s family still lives in limbo, and the grim shadow of war has not receded from their lives.
Musab’s family, worried about the high demand resulting in Abdelazziz being held too long, rushed to pay a ransom. They acted quickly immediately following his kidnapping in Cairo. The fate left in the wake of the RSF’s devastation has been disastrous. New war crime investigators at the Yale Humanitarian Research Lab have helped uncover staggering finds. In their report, they conducted a unique analysis of satellite imagery taken during the RSF’s takeover. The images depicted “reddish terrestrial discoloration” and “bright objects.” Nathanial Raymond, the lab’s executive director, was among the first to recognize these indicators as blood and corpses.
The Impacts of Violence
The RSF’s actions have fostered an atmosphere in which fear and doubt preside. Mr. Hassan spoke about the stress of living without an answer on his brother’s whereabouts.
“We know that we experience losing our loved ones, but the more painful thing than losing loved ones … is the uncertainty of your loved ones, whether he’s alive or she’s dead or she is a hostage,” – Mr. Hassan.
Yet the RSF’s violent tactics have spurred the devastation of hundreds of families. Unfortunately for the extended family of Musab Hassan, they were trapped inside of El-Fasher during the assault. An estimated 200,000 people could have been trapped in what officials referred to as a “kill box.” Thousands of refugees, like Abdullah, have streamed out of their homes. Many of them have journeyed more than 70 kilometers to seek refuge in Tawilah.
This large-scale violence has driven families to slowly navigate the new threats of communicating across borders. Sara Sinada, humanitarian specialist for the Enough Project, illustrated the desperate circumstance in Sudan. She explained that disclosing details about it at this stage would endanger lives.
“All my patients, my staff, and everyone else in the hospital were killed. They shot them all,” – Abdullah.
The RSF’s frightful tactics are not limited to their physically violent ways, but include a terrifying avenue of recording. Mr. Hassan’s testimony illustrated the RSF’s chilling actions. They don’t just perpetrate these horrors, they record them and transmit the videos in order to spread terror.
“It’s a really sad situation to say the least, but it does reflect the amount of danger that anyone within Sudan is in if they even attempt to report this to a group of friends or retell what’s happening to family,” – Sara Sinada.
The Role of Technology and Documentation
The violence out there is so dangerous that folks are too scared to be on their cell phones. They are forced to live in constant fear that they will be tracked, targeted. Sinada brought attention to the direct impact on those who report on or expose crimes against humanity that are occurring in Sudan. Those people put themselves at great risk.
“The RSF is not like any other criminal organisation. They do the crime, they document it themselves, and they send it to you right away to your screen,” – Mr. Hassan.
She elaborated, in a conversation that was transcribed, on the dire consequences faced by those who do risk challenging the status quo with their lives.
“The biggest fear was for RSF to get anyone’s phones and find a photo or a text message that documents what’s happening,” – Sara Sinada.
As the situation only gets worse, countless commentators lament the world’s response to these humanitarian catastrophes. Mr. Chindamo, Mr. Raymond praised the attention that is now being paid to these sorts of atrocities.
“Because what happens immediately is the person is killed,” – Sara Sinada.
The Global Response to Humanitarian Crisis
He said that although he has seen this kind of thing before the scale of this crisis is the largest ever.
“What shocked me is how little the world has cared,” – Nathanial Raymond.
Musab Hassan sounded the same note as he thought back on what violence has done to his life.
“Unfortunately, I’ve seen this many, many times before, including in Sudan — but here’s what’s different — the scale. We’re talking a quarter of a million people potentially, at least 200,000 in the kill box,” – Nathanial Raymond.
Musab Hassan echoed these sentiments as he reflected on his past experiences with violence.
“I myself witnessed a genocide when I was a child, but what I’m seeing now from five or six thousand miles away is horrific, something beyond my mental health’s bearing,” – Mr. Hassan.
