Sudan’s civil war may be entering another catastrophic phase. As I write this, a genocidal militia is massing outside a major city in Sudan, El Obeid. NGOs, the United Nations — and even Donald Trump’s State Department — are warning of the potential of a major mass atrocity event should El Obeid fall. Yet, the attack appears imminent.
In this episode of Global Dispatches, I speak with Mutasim Ali, Legal Advisor at the Raoul Wallenberg Centre for Human Rights, about the looming threat of mass atrocities in El Obeid, Sudan, as the Rapid Support Forces, the RSF, surround and besiege the city.
El Obeid is a strategically important city in central-western Sudan, located roughly 500 kilometers from Khartoum. If the RSF captures El Obeid, it could dramatically expand its territorial control and open the way for further violence as the group pushes eastward.
This conversation examines the RSF’s pattern of warfare, the role of external actors in fueling Sudan’s civil war — including supporting both the RSF and the Sudanese Armed Forces. Mutasim Ali also discusses efforts to hold the financiers and backers of Sudan’s warring parties accountable, including through the International Criminal Court.
One persistent feature of the international response to Sudan’s civil war has been a massive gap between expressions of concern and outrage on the one hand, and a lack of meaningful action commensurate with the scale of the crisis on the other.
Mutasim and I have some theories on why that is.
A personal note from Mark…Sudan’s civil war is the largest humanitarian crisis in the world and my commitment to humanitarian journalism compels me to cover this crisis, even as other western outlets shift their focus elsewhere. Please support this ongoing coverage with your paid subscription. I require audience support to keep Global Dispatches going, and you can support the cause here using the buttons below. For those who sign up in the next month, you’ll receive a Global Dispatches sticker as a token of my appreciation.
