International Institute for Religious Freedom

Genocide Emergency in Sudan

At the beginning of August, the organization Genocide Watch published a warning of possible genocide in Sudan.

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As stated on their website, this organization “exists to predict, prevent, stop, and punish genocide and other forms of mass murder. Our purpose is to build an international movement to prevent and stop genocide.”

The full post gives historical background to the current conflict, but this report highlights the most recent violence:

Fighting broke out between Hemeti’s RSF and Gen. Burhan’s Sudanese Armed Forces on April 15, 2023. Since then, over 1000 civilians have been killed and more than 4,000 have been wounded. In Khartoum and Omdurman, tens of thousands have fled, with over  75,000 internally displaced. Over 100,000 people have fled from Sudan. The RSF now controls most of Khartoum …

The RSF recommenced its attacks on the people of Darfur, especially the Massalit. The Rapid Support Forces have murdered over 1000 Massalit, raped thousands of women, and driven tens of thousands of Massalit into Chad. Massalit towns have been destroyed, their wells poisoned, their streets strewn with corpses.

The history of violence in this area highlights IIRF’s primary issue – religious freedom. Religious freedom is one right among many human rights being violated, but is a vital component for social cohesion. It is the very notion of human dignity, the foundation of religious freedom, that is being violated and also calls for response.Genocide watch has articulated a ten stage pathway along which genocide commonly occurs. They consider Sudan to be at Stage 8: persecution and Stage 9: extermination. Those interested can read the original post along with the recommendations presented.