Amnesty International has called for the deployment of peacekeepers to Sudan as its latest report details alleged mass killings, widespread rape and recruitment of children by the Rapid Support Forces (RSF).
The rights group said the atrocities amount to crimes against humanity and called for an immediate ceasefire to protect civilians from further attacks.
Amnesty International Nigeria Country Director, Isa Sanusi, made the call in Kano at the presentation of the organisation’s latest research findings on Sudan.
Sanusi warned of a worsening humanitarian crisis, including severe malnutrition among children.
Killings in El Fasher
Amnesty said the RSF laid siege to El Fasher for nearly 18 months, from May 2024 to October 2025, after capturing surrounding areas and displacing civilians.
The RSF allegedly blocked supply routes, restricted civilians from fleeing, and prevented traders and humanitarian organisations from delivering essential goods.
During the final offensive, intense shelling forced civilians from hiding, the rights group said.
Survivors reported seeing relatives and strangers killed before the Sudanese Armed Forces (SAF) withdrew, and the RSF seized the city.
Amnesty researcher Abdullahi Hassan cited the account of a 58-year-old Berti woman who said she saw more than 1,000 bodies north of El Fasher.
“The people who were shot were thrown inside the berm. The RSF said they would fill the berm with the bodies,” she said.
Rape & Sexual Slavery
The report documented widespread rape and other forms of sexual violence in villages, displacement camps and along routes used by fleeing civilians.
Amnesty interviewed 26 survivors of sexual violence, including 20 rape survivors. The youngest was 13.
Some women and girls were abducted and held as sex slaves for days or weeks, while others reported being raped by multiple fighters and subjected to ethnic insults.
Tasneem, a 13-year-old Zaghawa girl, was allegedly abducted in April 2025 after RSF fighters killed her father near El Fasher.
“[The first time I was raped] it was three people. I was blindfolded… They held me down… they raped me,” she told Amnesty.
“They said this is happening to you because your boys fought us.”
Another survivor, Ghalia, said she was 17 when she was abducted and tied to a tree for weeks, or possibly months.
“At night they raped me,” she said.
“It was always… at least two or three people at a time. First, when they started, I refused. I tried to fight back. They shot a bullet next to me. After that, I got scared.”
Torture & Hostage-taking
Amnesty also accused the RSF of unlawfully detaining civilians and holding many hostage for ransom.
The organisation interviewed 45 former detainees held between July 2024 and January 2026. At least 36, including five children, were allegedly held for ransom.
Survivors reported beatings, ethnic abuse, overcrowding and severe shortages of food, water and medical care.
At the Specialised Children’s Hospital of El Fasher, converted into a detention centre after the RSF takeover, witnesses said a cholera outbreak killed more than 200 people.
Former detainees at the Mina al-Bari detention centre said they were held in dark shipping containers with little ventilation and under extreme heat.
“Some people passed away inside,” one survivor said. “Sometimes I found somebody sitting like that after they had passed away.”
Another survivor said access to water became a struggle.
“Food became a secondary thing. We were just concerned with water,” he said.
“The RSF thought we had died, so they threw us out of the container. After a while, they realised we were still alive. They tortured us again.”
Children Forced to Fight
Amnesty also documented the recruitment and use of children as fighters, intelligence gatherers and livestock herders.
The organisation interviewed six boys aged between 15 and 17 who were allegedly recruited or used by the RSF.
One RSF member told Amnesty that about 40 per cent of his unit comprised boys and young men aged 14 to 20.
“We don’t ask or discuss anything. We take who we want,” he said.
Abdelraouf, about 15, was allegedly abducted from Zamzam displacement camp in April 2025.
After being beaten and detained for four days, he was given a uniform and a gun.
“They asked me to shoot… I shot… I went back to the car and hid. I was so scared,” he told Amnesty.
Amnesty said recruiting and using children violated international law, adding that the use of children under 15 in armed conflict could constitute a war crime.
Nigeria Urged to Act
The National Human Rights Commission (NHRC) said it may recommend the deployment of Nigerian peacekeepers to Sudan to protect civilians.
Its Kano coordinator, Shehu Abdullahi, said the Nigerian government has a role to play in efforts to end the conflict and restore peace.
The Emir of Kano, Muhammadu Sanusi II, also called for urgent dialogue and an end to the war.
Represented by the Walin Kano, Mahe Bashir Wali, the emir said ending the conflict was necessary in the interest of humanity.
Sudan’s war began in April 2023 following a power struggle between the Sudanese Armed Forces and the RSF.
The conflict has killed thousands and displaced millions in what the United Nations describes as the world’s largest humanitarian crisis.
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