Not On Our Watch: African Leadership Can Save African Lives 

25 September 2024

2.8 million people are at risk of mass atrocities in El Fasher and the surrounding areas.  With the final battle for El Fasher underway, there is still a narrow window for courageous African leadership to save African lives. In June, the African Union Peace and Security Council (AU PSC) “Denounce[d], in the strongest terms possible, the alleged rampant commission of atrocity crimes” in the Sudan war, which by some estimates has claimed over 150,000 lives. Today, the people of Sudan need more than words of condemnation. Sudan needs Africa to show global leadership to save fellow African lives though tangible solutions to prevent genocide and to protect civilians. 

The intensity of the fighting demands creative solutions. The extraordinary rate of aerial bombardments by the Sudanese Armed Forces (SAF) risks reducing the city to rubble. The Rapid Support Forces (RSF) has systematically targeted civilians on an ethnic basis, including the massacring of civilians at gathering sites for IDPs, mass rapes and sexual violence against women and children, and the use of starvation as a weapon of war. There is mounting international evidence of atrocities by both sides in Sudan, including at the International Criminal Court, by the UN Panel of Experts, and the Independent Fact-Finding Mission for Sudan. PAEMA assesses that there is a high risk of the genocide of non-Arab communities in and around El Fasher. Failure to act to prevent atrocities despite this vast evidence would be a dereliction of not only moral but legal obligations and the international community could be in violation of the Genocide Convention.

2024 marks 30 years since the world stood by and watched as 800,000 people were murdered in the span of 100 days in the Rwandan genocide. Yet again, we are facing another genocide in the heart of Africa but we cannot claim ignorance: the belligerents themselves are broadcasting images of their actions to the world through social media; satellite imagery shows the battle for El Fasher, troops movements, and displacement flows; and civilians are bravely risking their lives to share imagery and testimony. There will be no excuse for an African failure to act.

Recommendations to Protect Civilians and Save African Lives 

The AU PSC mandated the ACHPR to investigate the situation in El Fasher in May 2024. Four months later, the investigators still have not gained access to the city of El Fasher. Physical access is urgently required to support early warning and early action of atrocities. The AU PSC should explore options for the deployment of a monitoring mission to North Darfur to assess protection needs and make robust recommendations. The AU PSC should also call for an immediate ceasefire in El Fasher to allow civilians to safely evacuate. 

The AU PSC also mandated the AU and its relevant organs to develop a plan for the protection of civilians in Sudan in June 2024. The AU PSC should direct the AU Commission and the African Commission on Human and Peoples’ Rights (ACHPR) to present options for the protection of civilians in Sudan within a defined time period such as 7 or 14 days. 

Telecommunications

The ongoing telecommunications blackout has left almost 30 million Sudanese without access to the internet for eight months. Access to information is a critical protection issue. Internet access in the context of this war is essential for access to information for both Sudanese, and the international community. Access to information through the internet is essential for the documentation of atrocity crimes but is also vital for early warning and for civilians to have urgent information about safe evacuation routes away from conflict hotspots, and to support the localized humanitarian response to support those who are unable to flee. 

The AU, UN, and its relevant organs and agencies should explore options to support and expand connectivity through telecommunications in Sudan. Starlink devices are currently providing a lifeline and a plan should be made for scaling up the number of available devices to increase accessibility for the civilian population.

Telecommunications networks are key civilian infrastructure. Their deliberate targeting may amount to a war crime and they must be restored to protect civilian lives. Relevant stakeholders should also explore options for the restoration of the telecommunications networks in Sudan. This could include an independent assessment team accompanied by the International Committee of the Red Cross/Crescent to evaluate damage to the private telecommunications data centers in Khartoum with a plan for their repair. 

Humanitarian assistance 

The Famine Review Committee determined that famine is occurring in Zamzam IDP camp to the south of El Fasher. Within their assessment, they also noted that famine was likely occurring in other parts of North Darfur and Sudan, but that further determinations could not be made due to a lack of data. Based on accounts from local communities and local Sudanese humanitarian initiatives, people are starving to death in Darfur. There is also a severe lack of international humanitarian assistance due to access issues that have persisted over 17 months of war. 

Food is available in the markets of Darfur. Local NGOs and mutual aid initiatives have been able to purchase this to provide life-saving assistance to their communities. To save lives across Darfur and other areas of Sudan, the international community should provide immediate flexible funding to local NGOs and Sudanese humanitarian initiatives such as the Emergency Response Rooms (ERRs). UN Agencies should also scale up direct cash transfers to civilians to allow them to purchase essential goods. Simultaneously, the African Union, as a member of the Aligned for Advancing Lifesaving and Peace in Sudan (ALPS) Group should push for a larger volume of aid to be delivered through Dabbah Road to North Darfur to increase international humanitarian assistance. 

For further information, contact Shayna Lewis, Senior Advisor and Sudan Specialist at slewis@paema.ngo
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PAEMA is dedicated to preventing and ending mass atrocities by amplifying the integral role of community centered solutions. We help local communities in our areas of focus to establish and sustain relationships to drive structural and policy change.