Why Sudan Is Suffering an Unchecked Ethnic Cleansing Campaign
By Darius Spearman (africanelements)
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Amnesty International released a devastating, comprehensive report on June 30, 2026, titled City Under Siege, Children Under Fire: Rapid Support Forces’ Crimes Against Humanity in North Darfur (amnesty.org). This rights group accused the Rapid Support Forces of committing systemic crimes against humanity, ethnic cleansing, and targeted murders (amnestyusa.org). These horrific actions specifically targeted non-Arab, Black ethnic groups in North Darfur, particularly the Zaghawa community (amnesty.org.uk). This is a critical development that demands global attention and deep analysis.
This report is not an isolated dispatch of modern warfare. It represents the latest chapter in a cyclical, decades-long campaign of violence (amnesty.org). To understand the atrocities committed during the siege and the eventual fall of El Fasher, onlookers must examine the history of the region (amnesty.org). Examining how a state-sponsored proxy militia evolved into a global paramilitary force reveals the deep-seated ideologies that drive this violence today (hrw.org).
For members of the African diaspora, these events resonate deeply. They echo historical struggles against oppression and systematic violence across the globe. By understanding the forces at play, activists can better analyze how global dynamics impact marginalized Black communities (theguardian.com). Transnational Black solidarity is crucial when addressing such severe human rights crises.
The Deep Roots of Marginalization in Darfur
In Sudan, the distinction between Arab and non-Arab groups is not a biological or racial division. Both groups are dark-skinned, indigenous African populations with shared physical features (britannica.com). Instead, the divide is a complex linguistic, cultural, and political construct that has developed over centuries of migration and intermarriage (wikipedia.org). Successive northern-dominated regimes promoted an Arab-Islamic monocultural identity that systematically marginalized and politically excluded non-Arab ethnic groups (wikipedia.org).
Following independence in 1956, successive northern-led governments adopted Pan-Arabist and Islamist policies (wikipedia.org). These administrations attempted to enforce cultural assimilation, which created deep-seated grievances among diverse populations (wikipedia.org). In regions like Darfur, identity became highly politicized (wikipedia.org). Non-Arab agrarian groups, such as the Fur, Masalit, and Zaghawa, faced systematic economic neglect (ushmm.org). These communities also lacked political representation, which led to resource competition and violent conflicts with nomadic groups (britannica.com). This historic marginalization directly mirrors the anti-Black political structures that have long oppressed Black communities worldwide.
From the Janjaweed to the Rapid Support Forces
In February 2003, two Darfuri rebel groups launched armed attacks against Sudanese government military installations (wikipedia.org). The Sudan Liberation Movement and the Justice and Equality Movement accused the central government of systematic neglect (wikipedia.org). They also protested the unequal distribution of the oil wealth of the nation (ushmm.org). Rather than utilizing only the regular army, the regime armed nomadic Arab tribal militias, known as the Janjaweed (hmd.org.uk).
The government unleashed the Janjaweed to conduct a ruthless scorched-earth campaign against civilian populations (britannica.com). These forces razed thousands of non-Arab villages, poisoned wells, and systematically weaponized mass sexual violence (hrw.org). By 2013, the regime restructured these militias into the Rapid Support Forces under Mohamed Hamdan Dagalo (wikipedia.org). This paramilitary force operated with total impunity, securing lucrative gold mines and eventually transforming into an independent military and economic empire (hrw.org).
The Bitter Split of Former Allies in Khartoum
The transition of the regular army and the paramilitary forces from allies to enemies occurred in April 2023 (cfr.org). Originally, both forces cooperated to oust dictator Omar al-Bashir in 2019 and stage a joint military coup in 2021 (cfr.org). However, they reached a deadlock during negotiations for a transition to civilian rule (swp-berlin.org). The main dispute centered on how and when the paramilitary forces would merge into the regular national army (sudantribune.com).
The regular military proposed a rapid integration timeline of two years (sudantribune.com). On the other hand, the paramilitary leadership demanded a ten-year timeline to preserve independent military and financial autonomy (sudantribune.com). The two factions also clashed over who would hold ultimate command authority over the integrated military forces (swp-berlin.org). These unresolved issues created a critical bottleneck, leading to unauthorized troop redeployments and the outbreak of a violent civil war (adf-magazine.com).
Sudan Displacement Crisis: Then vs. Now
Source: UNHCR & Historical Data (unhcr.org)
The Tragic Fall of El Fasher and Amnesty Findings
El Fasher was the last major stronghold of the regular army and allied joint protection forces in Darfur (hrw.org). For over five hundred days, the paramilitary forces subjected the city to a brutal starvation blockade, cutting off essential aid (amnesty.org). On October 26, 2025, the regular army withdrew, allowing the paramilitary forces to overrun the city and massacre thousands of civilians (amnestyusa.org).
Amnesty International documented these atrocities in their 2026 report after an eight-month investigation (amnesty.org.uk). The rights group concluded that the paramilitary forces committed systematic acts of ethnic cleansing and targeted executions of the Zaghawa community (amnesty.org). Witnesses recalled fighters using deeply dehumanizing, racist terminology, such as falangay, which denotes slavery or servitude, when referring to Black civilians (amnesty.org). This vocabulary highlights how racism and dehumanization are used to justify the violent displacement of indigenous populations.
The Legal Weight of Dolus Specialis in Sudan
The term dolus specialis is a Latin legal concept meaning specific intent (opiniojuris.org). Under international law, this represents the highest and most difficult evidentiary standard to prove in court (cilj.co.uk). It distinguishes the crime of genocide from other mass atrocities, such as war crimes or crimes against humanity (cilj.co.uk). To prove this intent, prosecutors must show that the perpetrator acted to physically or biologically destroy a protected group, rather than simply targeting individuals (yale.edu).
In February 2026, the United Nations Independent International Fact-Finding Mission concluded that the assault on El Fasher bore the hallmarks of genocide (un.org). Investigators relied heavily on satellite and open-source data to establish that the paramilitary forces possessed the specific intent to destroy the Fur and Zaghawa groups (warwatch.ch). This systematic destruction of non-Arab neighborhoods demonstrates how international legal standards are being applied to document these modern atrocities (hrw.org).
Sudan Gold Flow: The Illicit Trade
Estimated Darfur Gold Revenue: $860 Million (hrw.org, afroeconomist.com)
Funding the Terror Through the Global Gold Trade
The paramilitary forces fund their massive military operations primarily through the illicit exploitation and smuggling of Sudanese gold (hrw.org). Controlling rich mining regions in Darfur and Kordofan through the Al-Junaid company of the Dagalo family, they extract hundreds of millions of dollars in gold annually (hrw.org). This economic empire allows the paramilitary forces to operate independently of the state and sustain their violent campaigns (geopoliticalmonitor.com).
Up to ninety percent of gold from Sudan is smuggled out of the country illegally, bypassing official channels to enter international markets (afroeconomist.com). The United Arab Emirates, specifically Dubai, serves as the primary international destination and laundering hub for this gold (responsiblestatecraft.org). In exchange for this gold supply, the United Arab Emirates reportedly supplies the paramilitary forces with advanced military hardware, such as armed drones and armored vehicles (turkiyetoday.com). This global trade network directly connects the economic exploitation of the continent to the ongoing violence on the ground.
Why the Global Community Remains Silent on Sudan
The current Sudan crisis has received significantly less global attention and advocacy than the 2003 Darfur genocide (niemanreports.org). Today, the global media landscape is heavily dominated by high-stakes conflicts in Ukraine and Gaza (imedd.org). These crises absorb the vast majority of Western political, financial, and news-reporting resources (theideasletter.org). Consequently, global audiences and policymakers remain fatigued and distracted, leaving Sudanese civilians to suffer in silence.
Additionally, severe communication blackouts and the systematic destruction of media infrastructure make ground reporting incredibly dangerous for journalists (niemanreports.org). The current conflict is also framed as a complex civil war between two heavily armed, deeply flawed military factions, which prevents the simple narratives that typically drive advocacy (ethanzuckerman.com). This complexity has induced a sense of fatigue among advocacy groups, resulting in a diminished network of support compared to the early 2000s (tandfonline.com). This lack of attention reflects a wider pattern where Black suffering is often ignored, mirroring the historical struggles of families experiencing shared struggles against oppression.
The Human Toll of the El Fasher Takeover
Source: Amnesty International & United Nations reports (amnestyusa.org, unicef.org, reliefweb.int)
The Human Cost and the Path Forward
The human toll of this conflict is immense, establishing the largest displacement and protection crisis in the world today (unhcr.org). Out of a population of fifty-one million, nearly fourteen million people have been forced to flee their homes (unhcr.org). Over nine million people remain displaced inside the country, while more than four million refugees have crossed borders into neighboring states (unhcr.org).
Over thirty million Sudanese require immediate humanitarian support, with famine conditions officially confirmed in El Fasher (unicef.org, reliefweb.int). Activists and international observers argue that without an immediate ceasefire and a strictly enforced global arms embargo, the violence will continue (amnestyusa.org). The international community must prioritize the protection of vulnerable civilians to halt this cycle of ethnic cleansing (amnesty.org.uk). To ensure justice, global bodies must hold the perpetrators of these crimes against humanity accountable (amnesty.org).
About the Author
Darius Spearman is a professor of Black Studies at San Diego City College, where he has been teaching for over 20 years. He is the founder of African Elements, a media platform dedicated to providing educational resources on the history and culture of the African diaspora. Through his work, Spearman aims to empower and educate by bringing historical context to contemporary issues affecting the Black community.
