Tigrayan Female Soldiers Experienced Sexual Abuse from Their Own Commanders

 The New Humanitarian published on 16 July 2026 an article titled "As War Fears Grow in Ethiopia, Women Soldiers Recount the Sexual Violence They Experienced" by Mehret Okubay Berehe and Hilary Matfess.

During the 2020-2022 conflict in Tigray, females suffered sexual violence by Ethiopian federal government forces, Eritrean Defense Forces, and Amhara militia.  This article, however, focuses on sexual abuse of female Tigrayan soldiers at the hands of commanders and officers in the Tigray Defense Force, the organization where they served.  

UN Report on Hallmarks of Genocide in Sudan

 The UN Human Rights Council published on 8 July 2026 a 26-page report titled "Information Supplementing the Report 'Sudan: Hallmarks of Genocide in El Fasher'."

This report provides detailed references not included in the initial 19 February 2026 report and additional information that the UN Human Rights Council gathered following continued investigations since the publication of the original report.  

It also helps develop the legal basis for the conclusions that were drawn in the original report, that the mass killings and related atrocities committed by the paramilitary Rapid Support Forces in and around El Fasher were indicators of a genocidal path.

Amnesty International's Massive Report on Atrocities in Sudan's North Darfur

 Amnesty International published on 1 July 2026 a report titled "City Under Seige, Children Under Fire: Rapid Support Forces' Crimes Against Humanity in North Darfur."

This is a 202-page report on the paramilitary Rapid Support Forces (RSF) atrocities in North Darfur based on 247 interviews, including 208 with survivors of the RSF seizure of El Fasher, capital of North Darfur.

South Sudan Conflict Flies Under the Radar

 The Council on Foreign Relations Global Conflict Tracker posted on 12 June 2026 an updated background piece titled "Instability in South Sudan."

Ten million South Sudanese--nearly 84 percent of the population--need humanitarian assistance, as reports of airstrikes on civilian areas, sexual violence, and forced recruitment have escalated since March 2025.  

Sudan's Humanitarian Crisis: Does Anyone Care?

 The New York Times published on 14 April 2026 a commentary titled "Is It Too Much to Ask to Care About Sudan?" by Ann Curry.

The author, a former international correspondent for NBC News, asks if it is too much for us to care about the world's largest humanitarian disaster.  She concludes that when we care--as individuals, as a nation--we can make things happen.  

War in Iran Disrupts Humanitarian Assistance for Sudan

 UN News published on 10 April 2026 an update titled "Sudan: 14 Million Displaced; Hunger and Attacks on Health Continue as War Enters Fourth Year."

Some 14 million people, or a quarter of the population, have been forced to flee, with 9 million remaining displaced inside Sudan and 4.4 million as refugees mostly in Chad, South Sudan, and Egypt.  In addition, 21 million Sudanese now face acute food insecurity, including 6.3 million in the direst state of food emergency.  Over 40 percent of Sudan's population require urgent health assistance and disease outbreaks are widespread.

Most of the UN agencies have their main logistics hub in the United Arab Emirates.  The closure of the Strait of Hormuz is impacting their ability to respond as humanitarian supply routes have been cut and shipping aid has become slower and more costly.

Sudan's Civil War in the Nuba Mountains

 Prospect published on 1 April 2026 an article titled "Sudan's War in the Mountains" by Sophie Neiman.

The paramilitary Rapid Support Forces (RSF) is using the Nuba Mountains as a thoroughfare to take territory controlled by the Sudan Armed Forces (SAF) in the eastern part of Sudan.  The Nuba Mountains have become a new frontline in the civil war.  The RSF is aligned with the SPLM-N against the SAF.

The Sexual Violence Crisis in Sudan's Darfur

 Medicins san Frontieres just published a study titled "'There Is Something I Want to Tell You . . .'  Surviving the Sexual Violence Crisis in Darfur."

Accounts of sexual violence in Darfur have surfaced most visibly during moments of intense fighting in Sudan's Darfur region, often along ethnic lines as a form of collective punishment, part of the broader pattern of atrocities inflicted on civilians.  But in the long shadow of conflict, women and girls continue to face sexual violence as a routine and inescapable reality even after the fighting subsides: on roads, in markets, in fields, in their homes, and during displacement.

The testimonies shared in this report demonstrate that sexual violence in Darfur is both woven into daily life and has become a defining feature of the war itself.  These voices leave no doubt as to the gravity of this crisis, revealing the scale, pervasiveness, and deliberate nature of sexual violence in Darfur.

Most of the perpetrators were armed, non-civilian men and the survivors often identified paramilitary Rapid Support Force fighters as the attackers.

The Case for Genocide in Ethiopia's War in Tigray

 

Tghat, a Tigrayan media platform devoted to the war in Tigray, published on 18 February 2026 a commentary titled "Why Eritrea Committed Genocide in Tigray" by Desta Haileselassie Hagos, Howard University.  

The author argues that the 2020-2022 war in Ethiopia's Tigray Region was an effort by the federal government of Ethiopia and the government of Eritrea to destroy Tigray and eradicate its people.  

This is a much longer account of the arguments made by the author published by Ethiopia Insight and reposted below on 17 February.  

UN Security Council Sanctions 4 Commanders in Sudan's Rapid Support Forces

 The Associated Press published on 25 February 2026 an article titled "UN Sanctions 4 Commanders in Sudan's Paramilitary Force Accused of Atrocities in Sudan" by Edith M. Lederer."

The UN Security Council imposed sanctions on 4 commanders of Sudan's paramilitary Rapid Support Forces suspected of atrocities against civilians.  They face UN travel bans and financial freezes.  

UN Report Suggests Rapid Support Forces Genocide in Sudan

 UN News published on 19 February 2026 an article titled "Sudan: 'Hallmarks of Genocide' Found in El Fasher, UN Investigators Detail Mass Killings and Ethnic Targeting" by Vibhu Mishra.

The paramilitary Rapid Support Forces (RSF) carried out ethnically targeted killings, widespread sexual violence, and enforced disappearance during their late-October takeover of El Fasher in Sudan's Darfur Region.  They committed three underlying acts of genocide, which is the only reasonable inference you can take from the RSF killings.  

Argument for Eritrea's Role in Tigray Genocide

 Ethiopia Insight published on 17 February 2026 a commentary titled "Eritrea's Role in the Tigray Genocide" by Desta Haileselassie Hagos, Howard University and manager of the Tigray Genocide website.  

The author argues that Eritrean troops joined those from the Ethiopian federal government to engage in a genocide against Tigrayans during the war in Tigray.  

Sudan Conflict Only Worsens in December

 Aljazeera published on 31 December 2025 an article titled "War in Sudan: Humanitarian Collapse, Fighting, Deadlock, December 2025" by Mohammad Mansour.

The humanitarian situation in Sudan deteriorated to a new low following a collapse of international funding, although the European Union launched an air bridge to deliver supplies to Darfur.  Kordofan province became the new epicenter for fighting as both the Sudan Armed Forces and the paramilitary Rapid Support Forces relied increasingly on the use of drones.  All attempts to end the conflict through negotiation appeared to be stalled.  

Independent UN Report on Atrocities in Sudan

 The UN Human Rights Council published on 5 September 2025 a report titled "Sudan: A War of Atrocities."

An Independent Fact-Finding Mission for the Sudan compiled this report, which documents widespread violence against individuals and communities, including killings, mass displacement, detention, enforced disappearance, and sexual violence.  Medical centers, schools, markets, food production systems, electricity stations, and displacement camps suffered extensive damage. 

Both the paramilitary Rapid Support Forces (RSF) and the Sudan Armed Forces perpetrated war crimes, but the RSF and their allies generally were the most criticized of the two sides.  

 

Female Tigray War Veterans Fear Being Left Behind

 World Politics Review published on 28 August 2025 a commentary titled "In Post-War Ethiopia, Tigray's Female Veterans Fear Being Left Behind" by Mehret Berhe and Hilary Matfess.

Women comprised 20 to 30 percent of the Tigrayan Defense Forces during the recent civil war.  Female veterans are concerned that they will not receive help in reintegrating into civilian life while victims of sexual violence doubt the perpetrators will be brought to justice.

International Criminal Court Charges War Crimes in Sudan

UN News posted on 10 July 2025 an article titled "International Criminal Court: War Crimes, Systematic Sexual Violence Ongoing in Darfur" by Vibhu Mishra.   

The International Criminal Court told the UN Security Council that it has reasonable grounds to believe that both war crimes and crimes against humanity continue to be committed in the Darfur region of Sudan where there is a deepening conflict between the Sudan Armed Forces and the paramilitary Rapid Support Forces.  Sexual violence directed against women and girls is one of the most disturbing patterns.  

Sudan's Two Years of Hell

 The International Crisis Group posted on 16 April 2025 a 34-minute podcast titled "Sudan's Two Years of Hell" with Alan Boswell and Dallia Mohamed Abdelmoniem, Sudanese political commentator and civil society activist.  

Dallia and her family departed Khartoum soon after the war began two years ago and ended up taking refuge in Egypt. She stays in touch with persons who remained in the capital region and follows events closely.

Those who remained in Khartoum describe the situation as "hell on earth" and living in an open prison.  People are just trying to make something out of nothing. Ethnic divisions have become more severe and may permanently divide the country.  Much of the country has now experienced war crimes committed by the paramilitary Rapid Support Forces (RSF) and even if they dislike the Sudan Armed Forces (SAF) they just want to see the end of the RSF.  Dallia longs to return to Khartoum but does not envisage an early end to the power struggle between the RSF and the SAF.   

On the Ground Report from Omdurman, Sudan

 The International Crisis Group posted on 7 November 2024 a 32-minute podcast titled "Inside Sudan's Catastrophic Civil War" with Elissa Jobson and Mohanad Hashim, Sudanese journalist with the BBC.

Mohanad Hashim travelled by road from Port Sudan on the Red Sea to Omdurman, across the White Nile from Khartoum, escorted by troops from the Sudan Armed Forces. He provides insightful analysis of the situation in Sudan.  

The devastation in this part of Sudan is near total.  He said the younger generation of Sudanese believes a new Sudan needs to be formed; the previous generation of leaders is not up to the task.  He concludes that neither side can win a military victory; it is a war of attrition. 

Continuing Atrocities in Sudan

 The Washington Post published on 1 November 2024 an article titled "A Commander Swapped Sides in Sudan's Civil War. His Community Paid in Blood" by Katharine Houreld and Hafiz Haroun.

The paramilitary Rapid Support Forces (RSF) carried out a killing spree and sexual violence campaign in a community after a RSF commander defected to the Sudan Armed Forces.  

UN Fact Finding Mission Calls for Neutral Force to Defend Civilians in Sudan

The United Nations Office of the High Commissioner for Human Rights published on 6 September 2024 a press release titled "Sudan: UN Fact-Finding Mission Outlines Extensive Human Rights Violations, International Crimes, Urges Protection of Civilians." 

The three experts from Tanzania, Nigeria, and Jordan/Switzerland found an appalling range of human rights violations and international crimes in Sudan and called for immediate steps to protect civilians.  The experts were especially critical of the paramilitary Rapid Support Forces.  They underscored the need to expand the arms embargo in Darfur and the immediate need to create "an independent and impartial force with a mandate to safeguard civilians."

The Associated Press published on 6 September 2024 an article titled "UN Investigators Urge Impartial Force as Sudan War Crimes Intensify." 

The article reports on the UN Fact-Finding Mission press release but points out that the experts did not specify which countries are complicit in war crimes nor suggest which countries might join a neutral force to protect civilians in Sudan.