Atrocity Alert is a weekly publication by the Global Centre for the Responsibility to Protect highlighting situations where populations are at risk of, or are enduring, mass atrocity crimes.

FURTHER DEVASTATION ACROSS SUDAN AS ATTACKS ON CIVILIAN POPULATIONS CONTINUE

Over the past week, the Sudanese Armed Forces (SAF) and paramilitary Rapid Support Forces (RSF) have engaged in intense fighting across Sudan as they both attempt to expand their territorial control. On 22 March the RSF attacked Al-Maliha, a strategic town in North Sudan approximately 200 kilometers north of El Fasher, killing at least 45 people. According to the Sudan Doctors Network, people in Al-Maliha were reportedly targeted on an ethnic basis. On 25 March the SAF allegedly killed hundreds of civilians in an airstrike on the Tur’rah market, 35 kilometers north of El Fasher. According to the BBC, videos on social media show the “smoking ruins of market stalls and bodies charred beyond recognition.”

On 21 March the SAF also recaptured the Presidential Palace in Khartoum. The palace had been under RSF control since the early days of the conflict, which broke out in April 2023. While the RSF still controls a few small areas in Khartoum, its forces have suffered significant setbacks, losing control of much of the capital, including Khartoum Bahri and Omdurman. If the SAF consolidates control over the entire capital, General Abdel Fattah al-Burhan could proceed with plans to establish a transitional government, potentially strengthening his position domestically and advancing his efforts to gain broader international recognition.

The RSF’s losses in Khartoum, North Kordofan, Sennar and Al-Jazeera, combined with its expansion elsewhere, as well as the SAF’s territorial gains, heighten the risk of Sudan’s de facto partition. Since late February, the RSF and allied militias have taken steps to establish a parallel government in areas under their control. Juliette Paauwe, Sudan expert at the Global Centre for the Responsibility to Protect, warns, “A partition would prolong the war, exacerbate ethnic tensions and fuel cycles of violence that could destabilize Sudan and the region.” Humanitarian efforts are already strained, and the emergence of two rival governments will complicate aid delivery, increasing bureaucratic obstacles and security risks.

The SAF and RSF both engage in patterns of abuses in territories under their control that would likely continue or escalate under partition. In SAF-held territories civilians are at risk amidst ongoing military operations and widespread patterns of arbitrary detention. Recent attacks on the Zamzam displacement camp and Al-Maliha underscore the ongoing and escalating violence – including ethnically motivated killings – in RSF-controlled areas, where there is increased risk of ethnic cleansing and/or genocide.

To prevent further civilian suffering and mitigate the risks of prolonged conflict, both sides must urgently agree to a permanent cessation of hostilities and respect international law. The RSF and SAF must cease all attacks on civilians. Stronger diplomatic engagement is essential to prevent Sudan’s partition. The UN Security Council should consider a resolution with effective measures to protect civilians and prevent further escalation in civilian harm.

UN FACT-FINDING MISSION WARNS CRIMES AGAINST HUMANITY CONTINUE IN VENEZUELA

On 18 March the UN Human Rights Council-mandated Fact-Finding Mission on Venezuela (FFM) warned that the Venezuelan government, under President Nicolás Maduro, continues to commit crimes against humanity in a systematic attempt to crush dissent. The latest FFM update specifically highlights persecution on political grounds in the context of repression in the period following the country’s July 2024 presidential elections. The government’s actions include imprisonment or severe deprivation of liberty, among other crimes.

The update comes more than two months after President Maduro was sworn in for a third term, despite overwhelming evidence of unprecedented electoral fraud. State agents responded to widespread outrage following the elections with a sharp escalation in political persecution targeting ordinary citizens, opposition members, journalists and human rights defenders. This included an estimated 2,000 arbitrary arrests between election day and the inauguration on 10 January. The FFM further warned that several of these arrests “were followed by prolonged periods of incommunicado detention and short-term enforced disappearances.”

Systematic repression is facilitated by hate speech and inflammatory rhetoric by high-level officials, as well as a series of legal restrictions aimed to criminalize political opposition and jeopardize the work of civil society organizations across the country. On 9 January the Inter-American Commission on Human Rights warned that the government continues practices of repression and persecution in a context of total impunity, while parliamentary elections scheduled for 25 May risk furthering and intensifying political persecution.

While repression has escalated in recent months, the FFM’s findings reflect patterns previously identified as part of a “widespread and systematic attack” against the civilian population by state agents and characterized as crimes against humanity. Over the past decade Venezuela’s multidimensional crisis has resulted in thousands of deaths and tens of thousands of detentions. Repression is intrinsically linked to the country’s prolonged severe humanitarian emergency, which has led an estimated 8 million Venezuelans to leave the country.

Despite continued risks faced by populations, in recent months several executive orders and decisions issued under United States (US) President Donald Trump have specifically targeted Venezuelan nationals. US authorities recently unlawfully expelled 238 Venezuelans to a mega-prison in El Salvador, infamous for its inhumane conditions. These expulsions were carried out without notifying family members of their whereabouts or providing any evidence supporting claims of their alleged affiliation with the notorious criminal gang “Tren de Aragua.” So-called deportation flights from the US to Caracas have also resumed.

Elisabeth Pramendorfer, Latin America Expert at the Global Centre for the Responsibility to Protect, warned that “rather than implementing measures that dehumanize and seriously jeopardize the lives and dignity of those who fled extreme hardship, the US government and other states should comply with international legal obligations, including the principle of non-refoulement, and take meaningful measures to curb the Venezuelan government’s growing systematic repression.”

RAMPANT GANG VIOLENCE THREATENS MILLIONS IN PORT-AU-PRINCE, HAITI

In the past two months, the Viv Ansanm gang coalition has engaged in relentless violence, tightening its grip on Port-au-Prince, Haiti, and attempting to besiege the remaining areas of the city not yet under their control, including Canapé-Vert and Pacot. Attacks by Viv Ansanm in Kenscoff, a strategic community in the mountains above the upscale neighborhood of Pétion-Ville, since late January have created an ongoing security gap in the city, as the understaffed and underfunded Haitian National Police, alongside the UN-mandated Multinational Security Support Mission, refocused their operations on Kenscoff and away from other areas that remain unprotected and vulnerable. According to news sources, gangs have also taken control of the last open road through the mountains to the south of Port-au-Prince, connecting the southeast, Nippes and Grand-Anse, giving them control over the region’s key resources and bringing them closer to Pétion-Ville.

In response to the growing insecurity, residents of Canapé-Vert armed themselves with machetes and took to the streets in protest last week. William O’Neill, the UN Designated Expert on Human Rights in Haiti, visited Port-au-Prince earlier this month and noted that “the sense of fear is palpable,” with many concerned the city could fall entirely under gang control.

Rampant violence in Port-au-Prince has led to escalating attacks on civilians and the shutdown of critical infrastructure, including hospitals and schools, amid both targeted and indiscriminate assaults. From 14 to 15 March, when gangs moved within meters of the Turgeau Hospital, threatening to turn it into a frontline, Médecins Sans Frontières was forced to suspend its critical operations. In the past week, gangs targeted three media houses in what UNESCO describes as an attempt to “instill chaos” and “isolate the population.” Eric Voli Bi, Head of the UNESCO Haiti Office, emphasized that, “Access to reliable information can be a matter of life and death. It can help people to identify safe zones, avoid danger and make the right decisions to protect themselves and their families.” Before these recent attacks, the Committee to Protect Journalists had already declared Haiti one of the world’s deadliest places for journalists.

The sharp deterioration in the security situation has forced repeated and record displacement. Haitians are fleeing through gunfire into overcrowded makeshift camps with their access to food, water and healthcare abruptly cut off. The International Organization for Migration warned that violence in Port-au-Prince displaced over 60,000 people in the past month alone. As displacement increases, women and children face a heightened risk of sexual violence due to inadequate protections at displacement sites, making these areas hotspots for sexual exploitation and abuse.

The Haitian transitional authorities must take all necessary steps to improve security at displacement sites in a gender-sensitive way and provide comprehensive health and legal support to survivors of sexual violence. The international community, particularly the United States, must bolster efforts to curb the flow of illicit weapons and ammunition to gangs in Haiti.