The Masalit massacres, sometimes referred to as the Masalit genocide, are an ongoing series of

massacres A massacre is an event of killing people who are not engaged in hostilities or are defenseless. It is generally used to describe a targeted killing of civilians en masse by an armed group or person. The word is a loan of a French term for "b ...

of the Masalit ethnic group in Sudan perpetrated by the

Rapid Support Forces The Rapid Support Forces (RSF; ) is a paramilitary force formerly operated by the government of Sudan. The RSF grew out of, and is primarily composed of, the Janjaweed militias which previously fought on behalf of the Sudanese government. RSF ...

(RSF) and its allies, during the

Sudanese civil war The term Sudanese Civil War refers to at least three separate conflicts in Sudan in Northeast Africa: *First Sudanese Civil War (1955–1972) *Second Sudanese Civil War (1983–2005) *Sudanese civil war (2023–present) It could also refer to other ...

between the RSF and the

Sudanese Armed Forces The Sudanese Armed Forces (SAF; ) are the military forces of the Republic of the Sudan. The force strength has been estimated at personnel in 2011 (by IISS), 200,000 personnel before the current war in Sudan broke out in 2023 (by the CIA), and ...

(SAF). The massacres began in 2023 during the

when the RSF began committing organized mass killings of Masalit

civilian A civilian is a person who is not a member of an armed force. It is war crime, illegal under the law of armed conflict to target civilians with military attacks, along with numerous other considerations for civilians during times of war. If a civi ...

s in

West Darfur West Darfur State ( Wilāyat Ḡarb Dārfūr), historically Dar Masalit (), is one of the states of Sudan, and one of five comprising the Darfur region. Prior to the creation of two new states in January 2012, it had an area of 79,460 km² ...

. The ongoing massacres include the Ardamata massacre, Misterei massacre and the

Battle of Geneina The Geneina massacre, also the Battle of Geneina, was a series of major battles for control of Geneina, the capital of West Darfur in Sudan, between the paramilitary Rapid Support Forces (RSF) and allied militias against Masalit self-defense mi ...

, all of which targeted Masalit civilians within the area of

Geneina Geneina (sometimes Al-Junaynah or ElGeneina; , lit. ''the little garden'') is a city in West Darfur, part of the dar Masalit region, in Sudan. It joined British Sudan at the end of 1919 through the Gilani Agreement, signed between the Masalit ...

. These incidents have been described by ''

The Economist ''The Economist'' is a British newspaper published weekly in printed magazine format and daily on Electronic publishing, digital platforms. It publishes stories on topics that include economics, business, geopolitics, technology and culture. M ...

'',

Genocide Watch Gregory H. Stanton is the former research professor in Genocide Studies and Prevention at the George Mason University in Fairfax County, Virginia, United States. He is best known for his work in the area of genocide studies. He is the founder ...

, US academic

Eric Reeves Eric Reeves (born 1950) is an American academic who is professor emeritus of English language and literature at Smith College in Northampton, Massachusetts. Reeves has carried out research into the politics and human rights situation in Sudan. ...

Khamis Abakar Khamis Abdallah Abakar (; 30 March 1964 – 14 June 2023) also known as Khamis Abakar was a Sudanese politician, marginalized groups rights activist and former army commander who served as the Governor of West Darfur from 2021 until his assass ...

(Governor of

), and the US government as a

genocide Genocide is violence that targets individuals because of their membership of a group and aims at the destruction of a people. Raphael Lemkin, who first coined the term, defined genocide as "the destruction of a nation or of an ethnic group" by ...

Background

In December 2020, Sudan started to deploy troops to

South Darfur South Darfur State ( Wilāyat Ǧanūb Dārfūr; Janob Darfor) is one of the States of Sudan, wilayat or states of Sudan. It is one of the five states that compose the Darfur, region of Darfur in western Sudan. Overview Prior to the creation of t ...

"in large numbers", following recent tribal violence between the Masalit and

Fula Fula may refer to: *Fula people (or Fulani, Fulɓe) *Fula language (or Pulaar, Fulfulde, Fulani) **The Fula variety known as the Pulaar language **The Fula variety known as the Pular language **The Fula variety known as Maasina Fulfulde *Fula alpha ...

Massacres

Following the

in 2023, more than a thousand bodies were left in mass graves in the town of

El Geneina Geneina (sometimes Al-Junaynah or ElGeneina; , lit. ''the little garden'') is a city in West Darfur, part of the dar Masalit region, in Sudan. It joined British Sudan at the end of 1919 through the Gilani Agreement, signed between the Masalit Su ...

. In January 2024, it was revealed that a report to the UN Security Council estimated that 10,000–15,000 people were killed in

. According to accounts by survivors, massacres were coordinated, specifically targeting Masalit and other dark-skinned inhabitants of

Darfur Darfur ( ; ) is a region of western Sudan. ''Dār'' is an Arabic word meaning "home f – the region was named Dardaju () while ruled by the Daju, who migrated from Meroë , and it was renamed Dartunjur () when the Tunjur ruled the area. ...

, as opposed to the

Sudanese Arab Sudanese Arabs () are the inhabitants of Sudan who identify as Arabs and speak Arabic as their mother tongue. Sudanese Arabs make up 70% of the population of Sudan, however prior to the independence of South Sudan in 2011, Sudanese Arabs made u ...

population. The

denied involvement, characterizing the situation as a tribal conflict, while Arab tribal leaders denied being involved in ethnic cleansing and held the Masalit responsible for starting the conflict.

Geneina massacre

Misterei massacre

Ardamata massacre

Reactions

, then governor of

, denounced the killings as "genocide". He was soon after

executed Capital punishment, also known as the death penalty and formerly called judicial homicide, is the state-sanctioned killing of a person as punishment for actual or supposed misconduct. The sentence (law), sentence ordering that an offender b ...

by RSF militants for his statements on 14 June 2023. As of August 2023, there is an increasing amount of proof suggesting that the RSF is initiating a systematic purge based on ethnicity in Darfur. The

United States Holocaust Memorial Museum The United States Holocaust Memorial Museum (USHMM) is the United States' official memorial to the Holocaust, dedicated to the documentation, study, and interpretation of the Holocaust. Opened in 1993, the museum explores the Holocaust through p ...

has issued a warning about the potential escalation into a full-scale genocide. On 10 November 2023,

Filippo Grandi Filippo Grandi (born 30 March 1957) is an Italian diplomat and United Nations official, currently serving as United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees. He previously served as Commissioner-General of the United Nations Relief and Works Agenc ...

, the U.N. High Commissioner, drew parallels between the ongoing violence and the genocide in Darfur recognised by the U.S., where it is estimated that 300,000 people lost their lives from 2003 to 2005. He cautioned that a "similar dynamic might be unfolding." In October,

issued an alert concerning the situation in Sudan, explicitly characterizing the massacres performed by the Rapid Support Forces against the Masalit people as genocide. This characterization was also shared by US academic

, specialized in Sudan's human rights record, and ''

''.

Josep Borrell Josep Borrell Fontelles (; born 24 April 1947) is a Spanish politician who served as High Representative of the Union for Foreign Affairs and Security Policy and Vice-President of the European Commission from 2019 to 2024. A member of the Spani ...

, the chief of foreign policy for the European Union, expressed his strong condemnation of the killing of more than 1,000 individuals in

Ardamata Ardamata () is a neighborhood located in the northeastern part of Geneina, Sudan. The neighborhood is near the Sudanese Armed Forces's 15th Infantry Division camp. History On 8 November 2023, the Janjaweed and Rapid Support Forces massacred ab ...

. He has urgently appealed to the international community to take immediate action to avert a potential "genocide" in the area. The UK government, witnesses and other observers described the violence in the region as tantamount to

ethnic cleansing Ethnic cleansing is the systematic forced removal of ethnic, racial, or religious groups from a given area, with the intent of making the society ethnically homogeneous. Along with direct removal such as deportation or population transfer, it ...

or even

, with non-Arab groups such as the Masalit being the primary victims. Mujeebelrahman Yagoub, Assistant Commissioner for Refugees in West Darfur called the violence worse than the

War in Darfur The War in Darfur, also nicknamed the Land Cruiser War, was a major armed conflict in the Darfur region of Sudan that began in February 2003 when the Sudan Liberation Movement/Army, Sudan Liberation Movement (SLM) and the Justice and Equalit ...

in 2003 and the

Rwandan genocide The Rwandan genocide, also known as the genocide against the Tutsi, occurred from 7 April to 19 July 1994 during the Rwandan Civil War. Over a span of around 100 days, members of the Tutsi ethnic group, as well as some moderate Hutu and Gre ...

in 1994. The US government also condemned the atrocities, which Secretary of State

Antony Blinken Antony John Blinken (born April 16, 1962) is an American lawyer and diplomat who served as the 71st United States secretary of state from 2021 to 2025. He previously served as Deputy National Security Advisor, deputy national security advisor ...

described as genocide, and imposed sanctions against RSF leader

Mohamed Hamdan Dagalo Mohamed Hamdan Dagalo (born 1974 or 1975), commonly known by the mononym Hemedti, is a Sudanese military officer and the current head of the paramilitary Rapid Support Forces (RSF). A Janjaweed leader from the Rizeigat tribe in Darfur, he was th ...

for his alleged role in the campaign.

International Court of Justice

On March 6, 2025, the Sudanese government filed a case against the

United Arab Emirates The United Arab Emirates (UAE), or simply the Emirates, is a country in West Asia, in the Middle East, at the eastern end of the Arabian Peninsula. It is a Federal monarchy, federal elective monarchy made up of Emirates of the United Arab E ...

at the

International Court of Justice The International Court of Justice (ICJ; , CIJ), or colloquially the World Court, is the only international court that Adjudication, adjudicates general disputes between nations, and gives advisory opinions on International law, internation ...

accusing the United Arab Emirates of violating the

Genocide Convention The Convention on the Prevention and Punishment of the Crime of Genocide (CPPCG), or the Genocide Convention, is an international treaty that criminalizes genocide and obligates state parties to pursue the enforcement of its prohibition. It was ...

and being complicit in genocide and other crimes committed by the RSF on the Masalit. Sudan accused the UAE of enabling the RSF's attacks on Masalit communities by providing them with political, military and financial support, and asked the court to halt the UAE's supply of arms to the militia. The UAE denied the accusations. In an official statement, the UAE described the case as "a cynical publicity stunt". On 5 May 2025 the ICJ threw out the case, stating that it "manifestly lacked" jurisdiction to rule on the case.

References

Works cited

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Masalit massacres (2023-present) Massacres in Darfur Darfur genocide 2020s murders in Sudan Ethnic cleansing in Africa Massacres of the Sudanese civil war (2023–present) Racism in Sudan Arab supremacy Genocide of indigenous peoples in Africa 21st century genocide