Sudan Media Forum
Khartoum, 12 March 2026, (Ayin Network) – In 2025, Sudan experienced a sharp escalation in violent conflict, with the number of civilian deaths rising to two and a half times the level recorded the previous year. Around 500 cases of sexual violence were documented, alongside an increase in summary executions, arbitrary detention, and attacks on vital infrastructure.
These figures reflect not only the scale of the humanitarian tragedy but also raise serious legal questions under international law. They prompt a critical examination of whether these violations are isolated incidents driven by the chaos of war or part of a systematic pattern that could amount to war crimes or crimes against humanity.
Against this backdrop, questions arise regarding the legal elements that classify acts such as sexual violence or summary executions as war crimes, and under what circumstances they may constitute crimes against humanity in terms of their systematic nature and widespread occurrence.
Lawyer and legal expert Abdelbasit Al-Haj told Ayin that such acts rank among the most serious international crimes. He explained that criminal intent can often be inferred from the high number of civilian victims, the types of weapons used, and the targeting of populated areas.
As the conflict continues, discussions have also intensified about potential accountability pathways. These include expanding the jurisdiction of the International Criminal Court, establishing independent international investigative mechanisms, or pursuing transitional justice processes that may emerge in a post-war context.
Sexual Violence: Figures and Testimonies
In this context, Hala Al-Karib, Regional Director of the Strategic Initiative for Women in the Horn of Africa (SIHA), told Ayin that the figure announced by the United Nations High Commissioner for Human Rights, Volker Türk, documenting 500 cases of sexual violence in Sudan within a single year, likely underestimates the true scale of the violations.
She explained that documentation conducted by the initiative from 2023 through December 2025 recorded nearly 1,900 cases across different regions of Sudan.
According to Al-Karib, the documentation process began in Khartoum, which witnessed a large wave of sexual violence, before spreading to Al-Jazira State and other areas, eventually reaching Darfur after the fall of the city of El-Geneina, where such crimes escalated significantly.
She stressed that the impact of these violations extends beyond women and girls to entire families and communities, both in urban and rural settings. Sexual violence, she said, is often used as a means of attacking the community itself.
These crimes leave deep and long-lasting psychological and social scars, including pregnancies resulting from rape and trauma that may persist across generations.
The Systematic Nature of Violations
Regarding the legal characterization of these abuses, Al-Karib said sexual violence in Sudan has not been limited to isolated individual crimes but has been documented in organized patterns that may amount to war crimes and acts of genocide.
She noted that Darfur has witnessed repeated ethnic targeting of specific communities under the supervision of commanders from the Rapid Support Forces, while eastern parts of Al-Jazira State experienced similar organized patterns of violence.
More than 70 percent of the documented rape cases occurred in the context of gang rape, including incidents where women were assaulted inside passenger buses or in public streets in front of bystanders—evidence, she said, of the systematic nature of these crimes.
Documentation and Protection of Survivors
Al-Karib also highlighted the immense challenges involved in documenting these violations and protecting survivors.
A climate of silence, fear, and social stigma makes documentation extremely difficult. Threats do not necessarily end when RSF forces withdraw from certain areas; women in some cases face further violations by other armed groups, including sexual enslavement, humiliation, arbitrary detention, and false accusations of collaborating with parties to the conflict.
These conditions complicate efforts to demonstrate the “systematic nature” or “organized policy” behind such crimes without exposing survivors to further harm, underscoring the need for integrated strategies for protection and documentation.
On legal responsibility, she emphasized that accountability extends beyond direct perpetrators to include leaders who permitted the violations, failed to prevent them, or turned a blind eye to them—encompassing both military and political leadership.
Justice for Victims
Al-Karib added that survivors in Sudan—both women and men—remain largely deprived of access to justice. Many have yet to receive official recognition of the harm they suffered, let alone compensation or reparations, deepening the psychological and social consequences of the abuses.
The health impacts are also severe, including the spread of sexually transmitted infections and unexplained deaths among young men and women.
She stressed that investment in response mechanisms remains extremely limited, whether by international actors or local authorities, reflecting the absence of a clear strategy to address what she described as a humanitarian catastrophe.
? When Do Violations Become International Crimes
Drawing on definitions in the Rome Statute, lawyer Abdelbasit Al-Haj explained that sexual violence is inherently criminal, as it constitutes a direct assault on human dignity and personal security, leaving deep psychological scars—particularly on women and girls who are disproportionately affected.
When sexual violence occurs in the context of armed conflict, it may fall under two legal classifications. It can be considered a war crime if committed against civilians without distinction or as part of a deliberate attack against them.
However, if such acts are widespread and systematic across multiple regions and evidence shows that sexual violence is used as a policy by an armed group, they may rise to the level of crimes against humanity. Both classifications, he noted, fall under the category of serious international crimes.
Regarding criminal intent, Al-Haj said that a high number of civilian casualties can itself signal criminal intent. The use of weapons causing disproportionate harm or the targeting of populated areas may also indicate deliberate attacks on civilians, unless justified by clear military necessity.
Command Responsibility and Accountability
On the issue of command responsibility, Al-Haj explained that it applies not only to field commanders issuing direct operational orders but also to higher-level leaders who possess the authority to issue or halt such orders and who oversee military operations directly or indirectly.
Responsibility may also extend to political actors if they are found to have incited, encouraged, or facilitated violations of the laws of war and international criminal law.
Regarding international accountability, he said expanding the jurisdiction of the International Criminal Court in Sudan could be a significant step. However, this would depend largely on the willingness of the Sudanese state to cooperate with the court and strengthen the role of national judicial institutions, which remain the cornerstone of justice.
He added that international and regional actors have already established investigative mechanisms to examine violations in Sudan, while transitional justice—led by national organizations and victims’ communities—could play a vital role in reconciliation and addressing the wounds of the past.
Drones and the Targeting of Infrastructure
The impact of the Sudanese conflict in 2025 has not been limited to crimes against civilians. It has also involved significant tactical transformations in military operations and the tools used in warfare.
Mohamed Badawi, Director of the African Center for Justice and Peace Studies, told Ayin that the growing use of drones and modern technology has significantly influenced military operations, with direct consequences for civilians and vital infrastructure, as well as broader effects on civil society and military culture.
Badawi explained that drones marked a major shift in Sudan’s military landscape in 2025. Previously used mainly in civilian sectors such as agriculture and research, they have now become multi-purpose tools in armed conflict.
These drones can be launched remotely, enabling surveillance and military coordination over long distances. They have been deployed in areas such as El-Geneina and Nyala, while their presence in El-Fasher was limited during the early stages of the conflict.
Although drones alone cannot decisively end the conflict, they can exhaust opposing forces, open multiple battlefronts simultaneously, and restrict enemy movement in certain areas.
Modern technologies, including satellite imagery and precise mapping tools such as Google Maps, have also facilitated more accurate targeting of strikes.
Infrastructure Attacks and the Militarization of Society
Badawi noted that drone warfare has expanded the scope of attacks to include electricity stations, water facilities, ports, and other economic infrastructure—developments that directly affect civilians and disrupt energy and resource markets.
Such attacks may not merely represent collateral damage but could serve as strategic pressure tactics aimed at weakening an opponent’s capacity to sustain the war.
Similar patterns have appeared in other conflicts worldwide, where attacks on energy and water infrastructure have disrupted services and driven up global prices, demonstrating the combined military and economic impact of such operations.
On the broader issue of societal militarization, Badawi said the phenomenon is not new in Sudan. Its roots trace back to the wars in southern Sudan during the late 1980s, but it has intensified significantly during recent conflicts.
He warned that militarization transforms social culture from a civilian to a military orientation, where children and young people become increasingly accustomed to weapons and violence, adopting a military vocabulary in place of civilian language.
This shift weakens the desire for peaceful life and increasingly links access to basic services with military power or affiliation with armed groups—developments that undermine civil society stability and risk expanding the conflict regionally.
The Sudan Media Forum and its member organizations are publishing this report, prepared by Ayin Network, to highlight the dramatic increase in civilian casualties during the past year, with deaths rising two and a half times compared with 2025. The report examines the impact of the war between the Sudanese Armed Forces and the Rapid Support Forces on civilians, the crimes committed against them, and the evolving military tactics used in the conflict—including the growing role of drones and modern technology and their direct effects on civilians, critical infrastructure, and the militarization of Sudanese society.
