The chairman of the Sudanese Sovereign Council has assigned a chief prosecutor, whose name remains unknown, to the presidency of the committee responsible for investigating violations and war crimes of the paramilitary Rapid Support Forces (RSF), media reported.
The committee, which aims to document RSF's "violations and war crimes," was formed on August 4.
In July, the head of the ethnic Masalit tribe Saad Abdelrahman Bahr Al-Din reported that more than 10,000 people were killed in the Sudanese region of West Darfur due to the conflict. Most residents of the West Darfur capital of El Geneina have been displaced from the city, according to the tribal leader.
Bahr Al-Din called El Geneina, which had a pre-war population of over 500,000 people, a “ghost town that is devoid of life,” adding that the majority of refugees have fled to Chad.
At least 88 cases of sexual assault have also been registered nationwide, most of them blamed on the RSF, local media said. However, the Unit for Combatting Violence against Women under Sudan’s Ministry of Social Development reportedly noted that the number of cases of sexual violence reached 4,400.
Moreover, the deputy head of the International Committee of the Red Cross's (ICRC) regional delegation in Southern Africa Mutsa Mugangavari noted that due to the crisis, Sudanese citizens are forced to survive with inadequate access to medical care, water, and electricity.
On April 15, large-scale clashes between the Sudanese army led by General Abdel Fattah al-Burhan and the Rapid Support Forces led by Mohammed Hamdan Dagalo erupted in various areas throughout Sudan. Both sides have sought to seize control of strategic facilities, including the presidential palace as well as a number of military and civilian airports in Khartoum and other cities.
Despite several temporary ceasefires by both parties, fighting continues.
The conflict was caused by the issue of the integration of the RSF into the Sudanese Army. The Sudanese Army required the completion of the process within two years, whereas the RSF insisted on a ten-year period.