A recent United Nations report states that more than 1,000 individuals were killed during an April attack on a camp for
displaced people in Darfur, Sudan. The UN human rights body specified that one-third of these deaths involved summary
The updated death toll, released on Thursday, is more than three times the initial estimates for this incident, which is
considered one of the most egregious events in Sudan's ongoing civil war.
Volker Türk, who heads the U.N. human rights office, stated that the killings, perpetrated by the paramilitary Rapid
Support Forces (R.S.F.), could be classified as war crimes, specifically murder. The R.S.F. has been engaged in conflict
with the Sudanese military for almost three years.
The three-day massacre took place in April when R.S.F. fighters gained control of the Zamzam camp, located in the Darfur
region of western Sudan. Zamzam was the largest camp in Sudan, housing an estimated 500,000 people at the time. Most of
the camp's residents fled during the attack.
The UN report documented the deaths of 1,013 people, including 319 who were summarily executed. The report also detailed
how fighters murdered the entire staff of the camp's largest medical clinic. Furthermore, the R.S.F. fighters allegedly
set fire to homes and committed widespread sexual violence.
The United Nations documented 104 cases of sexual assault, involving 75 women, 26 girls, and three boys. The majority of
the victims were from the Zaghawa ethnic group.