The “Intellexa Leaks”, a new joint investigation by Inside Story, Haaretz and WAV Research Collective with technical analysis provided by Amnesty International, exposes the internal operations of Intellexa, – a company notorious for selling highly invasive spyware Predator linked to human rights abuses in multiple countries.
Responding to the investigation published today,Jurre van Bergen, Technologist at Amnesty International’s Security Lab said:
“This investigation provides one of the clearest and most damning views yet into Intellexa’s internal operations and technology.
Jurre van Bergen, Technologist at Amnesty International’s Security Lab
“The fact that, at least in some cases, Intellexa appears to have retained the capability to remotely access Predator customer logs – allowing company staff to see details of surveillance operations and targeted individuals raises questions about its own human rights due diligence processes. If a mercenary spyware company is found to be directly involved in the operation of its product, then by human rights standards, it could potentially leave them open to claims of liability in cases of misuse and if any human rights abuses are caused by the use of spyware.
“Predator spyware was also implicated in surveillance attacks in 2021, such as against the Greek journalist Thanasis Koukakis, based on digital forensic research by Citizen Lab. Information in the leaked files now adds to the evidence connecting Intellexa’s products to violations of human rights, such as rights to privacy and freedom of expression.
“These revelations come at a time when new cases of Predator spyware abuse are coming to light, showing that Intellexa’s product continues to be used to unlawfully surveil activists, journalists and human rights defenders around the world. Amnesty International’s Security Lab uncovered an attack against a human rights lawyer from Pakistan’s Balochistan province over WhatsApp during the summer of 2025, proving that the Predator spyware is being actively used in Pakistan, gravely violating privacy and freedom of expression rights.
“Even more alarming is the company’s latest development of a new spyware product called Aladdin which can infect mobiles through online advertisements.”
Background
The “Intellexa Leaks” is a months-long investigation drawing on a set of highly sensitive documents and other materials leaked from the company, including internal company documents, sales and marketing material, as well as training videos. An in-depth analysis of the leaked materials, as well as details of the reply received by Haaretz from Intellexa’s founder, responding to a request for comment from the company, can be found in Amnesty International’s Security Lab technical briefing, “To Catch a Predator: Leak exposes the internal operations of Intellexa’s spyware”.
Amnesty International has previously documented Intellexa’s technical capabilities and numerous cases of abuse linked to their spyware products as part of “Predator Files” in 2023. Ongoing investigations into the attack campaign in Pakistan and other instances of abuse will be released in a series of upcoming Amnesty International reports.
Amnesty International is working closely with communities and partner organizations to combat violence against women and girls in Burkina Faso, Senegal and Sierra Leone. In these West African countries, they are subjected to different forms of gender-based violence (GBV), including early and forced marriage and female genital mutilation (FGM), but also physical, psychological, and economic violence, exposing them to many vulnerabilities and multiple human rights violations.
Meet five activists who are speaking out, working to raise community awareness, challenging gender-based violence and supporting survivors.
Mariama Seydi
A GBV survivor herself, Mariama Seydi, 17, studies at Djibanar High School in the Sédhiou region in Southern Senegal. She has been involved in activities with Amnesty International since 2017 as an active member of her school’s human rights club.
Mariama has been involved in the school club set up by Amnesty International since she was 8 years old
“My greatest pride is being at school, learning and preparing for my future. My dream is to be a lawyer, to defend people who are struggling and need help.
I was cut. We are told that it is a custom, but sometimes I wonder if our ancestors would not be fighting alongside us today against female genital mutilation if they knew all the consequences of this practice. It hurts me to know that I was cut and that there will still be girls who will go through this too.
I regret that some people think that change is impossible. But I don’t let that get me down.
Mariama
In our area, there is a lot of violence against girls. The violence I see around me includes female genital mutilation and early and forced marriages. Harassment is also very common.
Amnesty’s training about GBV has enabled me, as a girl, to aspire to help and defend voiceless people who are unable to defend themselves. After my training sessions, I often share everything I have learned with my friends.
There isn’t much communication between young people and their parents. Certain topics are taboo. That’s not the case for me; I talk to my mother a lot. She explained to me that she had me cut, as she herself was, because it’s a tradition. Not having had the chance to go to school, she just repeated what she knew. She encourages me to get training, learn new things, and help my friends and those around me.
I am proud of what I have accomplished so far. I regret that some people think that change is impossible. But I don’t let that get me down because there are people who recognize the importance of what we are doing. It only motivates me more to continue raising awareness.”
Djénébou Assé Kandé
Djénébou Assé Kandé, 39, lives in Saré Tening, in the Sédhiou region in Southern Senegal. She is the secretary of the Nafore Kawral Group that works for women’s and girls’ empowerment. On the path to recovery from domestic violence, she fights for the human rights of members of her community.
A survivor of domestic violence, Djénébou is now engaged for women’s and girls’ empowerment in her community
“I don’t want other girls to go through what I went through. My ex-husband beat me so badly that I had problems with my eyesight and hearing. I was so afraid of him that I didn’t even dare to talk to him. After my divorce, while living with my parents, I was invited to attend awareness-raising activities with Amnesty. That’s where I learned a lot.
Now, when I come across girls, I never miss an opportunity to talk to them to prevent them from going through what I went through. I often visit schools to talk to students. The girls talk and ask questions. Every Friday, I also visit surrounding villages to talk to women.
I remarried and my new life as part of a couple is really different from what I knew before. With my husband, as soon as we face a problem, we talk about it. I have also learned to talk to my daughter; we talk about sexual health. I am proud of her because she got her high school diploma. Here, it is common to see girls who do not even reach high school. After elementary or middle school, they are married off. I dropped out of school very early.
Men have changed thanks to discussions about gender-based violence and sexual health. When we organize a meeting, I explain to them that the topics we discuss are realities that we experience and that we need to talk about them. Before, men rejected everything we said. Today, their perspective is beginning to change. To bring about change, we need to raise even more awareness among men.”
Médard Ouédraogo, 50, works as a farmer and is a member of a community alert committee set up by Amnesty International and its partners in the village of Roumtenga, in the Passoré province of Burkina Faso, to combat gender-based violence. He is also a member of the Association for the Promotion of Women and Children (APFE).
Médard is a member of a community alert committee set up by Amnesty International and its partners to combat gender-based violence
“I have been committed to fighting gender-based violence since my first contact with APFE five years ago. I was moved by the issues we discussed because we were experiencing them too. So I joined the Roumtenga alert committee.
Since we have been sensitized about early and forced marriage, there has been a big change. But awareness must also reach the surrounding villages.
Médard
We had a woman practicing female genital mutilation in the village. We, the members of the alert committee, went to her house after informing her husband and children of our intention to talk to her. She had already been to prison and was afraid of being arrested again. We took a humble and respectful approach. We explained the harmful consequences of FGM to her. She was touched by our approach and committed to stopping her activity. She did not perform any more female genital mutilation until her death this year.
In cases of early and forced marriages, as soon as we receive the information, we take action. We visit the family of the suitor or groom and explain to them that girls under the age of 18 should not get married. Often, people understand and accept this. When the girl is already at their home, they tell us they will take her back to her parents. But we insist on accompanying her back to her house. In cases where the man refuses to let the girl return to her family, we report him to either the police or social services.
Since we have been sensitized about early and forced marriage, there has been a big change. Girls are no longer given in marriage against their will. But awareness must also reach the surrounding villages. While Roumtenga has abandoned the practice of early and forced marriages, this is not the case elsewhere.
These are issues that are important to me. We are setting an example, and we are truly proud of it.”
Pauline Kaboré
Pauline Kaboré, 45, works at the provincial directorate for humanitarian action and national solidarity in the Passoré province, in Burkina Faso.
Pauline is a social worker who supports gender-based violence survivors
“The cases of GBV that I encounter most often are early and forced marriages, physical violence, and social exclusion, for example when women are accused of witchcraft. In total, we receive five to seven cases per week.
I remember a 16-year-old girl who was about to be forced into marriage. She came to us on her own the day before her engagement to report her situation. She was able to receive care and protection.
Since I started working with Amnesty International, I have changed my approach. A survivor who comes to us is overwhelmed with fear and sadness, and lacks confidence. Before, I thought I had to act quickly. Now I know not to rush. I adapt my tone and reassure her by showing her that she is in good hands.
When I meet with someone in a complex situation, it stirs up emotions in me, but I have learned to put them aside. My priority is that we find solutions together. If the survivor is aware of her situation and no longer wishes to continue with follow-up, we are obliged to stop. We don’t force anyone.
Our work is not limited to survivors. We also work with families and the community. We have conducted awareness campaigns and invited community leaders. Some of them are unfamiliar with the law and are stuck in their traditions. But they are really receptive to what we say.
I have managed to reintegrate young girls, resolve issues of forced marriages, and reconcile families. I can say that there has been improvement, but GBV is persistent. There is still a long way to go to eradicate it.”
Mohamed Tejan Jalloh is a human rights ambassador in Konakry Dee Community, Port Loko District, in Northwestern Sierra Leone. Aged 27, he works as a teacher and has been volunteering for about 10 years in his community.
To raise awareness about gender-based violence in his community, Mohamed uses a megaphone
“When I was going to school, I saw girls interrupting their education because they were forced into marriage. Their parents married their daughters to fishermen because of their money and influence, no matter how brilliant the girls were. They saw fishermen having two or three boats and only look at the immediate benefit. All this is due to poverty. At that time, I was 16. I had a friend who was a victim of child marriage and I felt bad about it. From that time, I decided to volunteer and to champion this cause. In this community, I am now known as a human rights ambassador.
I am committed to doing this as long as I am alive.
Mohamed
Now, child marriage has been reduced in our community. It’s difficult to make people change. When Amnesty first came to our village, the reaction of the community was not encouraging. There was a lot of confrontation between the volunteers and the parents. But we managed to bring awareness by making them understand that if their daughters can access education, they will acquire knowledge and be in a better position in society.
As volunteers, we go to schools and hold educational sessions. We also talk to Muslim leaders during Friday prayers. We tell them how important it is to allow children to go to school. Our town chief also supports us.
We have some challenges. I’m using a megaphone and I can’t reach more than 50 or 60 people per awareness raising session in the field because it is not loud enough. We would like to buy a loudspeaker. Another challenge is the accessibility of our town. When a GBV case is reported in our community, we need the police to intervene. But our road is not good, so it can take time.
Some people continue to criticize what I do, and I have been threatened. But I am not afraid. I am committed to doing this as long as I am alive.”
Through a human rights education programme implemented since 2017 in Burkina Faso, Senegal and Sierra Leone, Amnesty International is working alongside local partners and organizations to combat gender-based violence through education, awareness-raising and advocacy, with a view to changing attitudes and behaviours and helping to reform legislation in these countries.
Gender-based violence affects us all, but together we can create a safer world for everyone.
EnrolL On Amnesty’s online course on confronting and countering gender-based violence.
After more than eight months of diplomatic efforts by the United States and Qatar to end the conflict in the Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC), civilians continue to face serious human rights abuses by the Rwanda-backed March 23 Movement (M23) and the Wazalendo, a coalition of armed groups supported by the Congolese army. As the presidents of Rwanda and DRC prepare to sign a peace agreement at the White House today, Amnesty International has said:
“The upcoming signature of the peace deal between the presidents of DRC and Rwanda in Washington takes place as the violence continues in eastern DRC with immense suffering for civilians,” said Tigere Chagutah, Amnesty International’s Regional Director for East and Southern Africa.
“Months of discussions and the signing of multiple agreements in Washington and Doha have had no tangible impact on the lives of Congolese civilians. President Trump must press M23, Rwandan and Congolese leaders to end ongoing human rights abuses against civilians in the country and clearly indicate that they will be held individually accountable for their failure to respect the agreement.”
The upcoming signature of the peace deal between the presidents of DRC and Rwanda in Washington takes place as the violence continues in eastern DRC with immense suffering for civilians.
Tigere Chagutah, Amnesty International’s Regional Director for East and Southern Africa
Amnesty International has received credible reports of abuses committed by Wazalendo fighters and revenge killings by M23 against civilians suspected of collaborating with the Wazalendo. Tens of thousands of residents were displaced in October. In parts of North Kivu province, many civilians have resorted to living in forests for fear of attacks by armed groups.
“Congolese are fed up with lofty rhetoric and diplomatic language,” said Tigere Chagutah “They are tired of waiting. Thousands of civilians are caught between two brutal forces. On one side, they face summary killings, torture, gang rape and abductions by Rwandan-backed M23. On the other side, they are killed, ill-treated, abducted and raped by members of the Wazalendo.”
President Trump must press M23, Rwandan and Congolese leaders to end ongoing human rights abuses against civilians in the country and clearly indicate that they will be held individually accountable for their failure to respect the agreement.
Tigere Chagutah
“It’s appalling that international diplomats, including those from the US, European Union and African Union, are shirking their moral and international obligations by not applying direct and consistent pressure on Rwandan and DRC leaders to stop supporting abusive armed groups,” said Tigere Chagutah.
“World leaders are aware of the killings and rapes committed by the warring parties in DRC and choose to disregard them. Officials from the US, European Union and the African Union must prioritise stopping human rights abuses. Until diplomats impose consequences on the backers of the M23 and the Wazalendo, Congolese civilians will continue to suffer,” said Tigere Chagutah.
Background
US, Congolese and Rwandan diplomats have worked on the peace deal set to be signed in Washington since April. Rwandan and DRC officials signed a peace agreement in Washington on 27 June, which allows Rwanda to maintain their “defensive measures” in eastern Congo until the Democratic Forces for the Liberation of Rwanda (FDLR) and affiliated armed groups are “neutralized.”
The FDLR is an armed opposition group operating in eastern DRC mainly composed of Rwandan Hutu. It contains remnants of the Interahamwe and former Rwandan soldiers responsible for the 1994 Rwandan genocide, as well as fighters not involved in the genocide, including many too young to have participated in the genocide. Rwandan President Paul Kagame has called the FDLR an “existential threat” to Rwanda.
Rwanda and M23 signed a framework for a peace agreement in Qatar on 15 November 2025 designed to end the fighting in DRC. The deal included eight protocols, most of which still required negotiation by the two parties.
The African Union declared 2025 to be the “Year of Justice for Africans and People of African Descent through Reparations”. The African Court on Human and Peoples’ Rights has an opportunity to make that more than just a slogan, as it considers the current request for an advisory opinion before it, on states’ human rights obligations in the context of climate change. It has an opportunity to issue a landmark opinion affirming the link between colonialism and the harms of climate change to people(s) across the continent. Such an opinion would mark a major step forward from the International Court of Justice and in Africa’s fight for reparative justice.
On July 30, 2025, Amnesty International published a report recounting how, during the French colonial era in Madagascar, authorities deliberately unleashed harmful, genetically manipulated cochineal parasites across some 40,000 hectares (98,850 acres) of a drought-resilient vegetation in the Androy region in Madagascar’s deep South.
Between 1924 and 1929, the parasites destroyed roughly 100km (62 miles) of vegetation cover each year.
Madagascar’s droughts are being intensified by human-induced climate change, driven largely by high-income historically high emitting countries, such as France – the very colonial power that left the Antandroy people vulnerable.
Nciko wa Nciko and Samrawit Getaneh
This was not a minor ecological loss. The vegetation had sustained the Antandroy people for generations, providing food and helping to preserve groundwater through chronic droughts. Its destruction erased a vital natural defence system against those droughts. More than a century later, the destruction has left the Antandroy people exposed to recurring mass hunger, displacement, and death whenever drought strikes.
Furthermore, Madagascar’s droughts are being intensified by human-induced climate change, driven largely by high-income historically high emitting countries, such as France – the very colonial power that left the Antandroy people vulnerable.
When science leads and politics lags
The scientific link between colonialism and climate vulnerability has long been established. In 2022, the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC), which advises the United Nations on the science related to climate change, highlighted not only how colonialism contributed to the climate crisis itself but also how its enduring harms have left many communities in former colonies more vulnerable to climate effects, such as droughts, floods, cyclones and rising sea levels.
Effective climate action needs more than science; it also requires political backing for states, particularly those with greater historic responsibility for climate change, to act on mitigation, adaptation and financing strategies.
Nciko wa Nciko and Samrawit Getaneh
Effective climate action needs more than science; it also requires political backing for states, particularly those with greater historic responsibility for climate change, to act on mitigation, adaptation and financing strategies. When this doesn’t happen, countries with minimal historical responsibility who are suffering the most from climate change have no option but to seek clarity and accountability through a world court, in this case, the International Court of Justice (ICJ). The ICJ has the capacity to influence political processes. The ICJ, in particular, can lend global legitimacy to scientific evidence. Indeed, the ICJ has considerable moral and persuasive authority, often shaping the behaviour of states on the international political stage.
The opportunity for the ICJ to exert this influence arrived when in March 2023 Vanuatu, itself a former colony of both France and the United Kingdom, rallied the UN General Assembly to request an ICJ advisory opinion on states’ legal obligations regarding climate change. Formerly colonised nations in Africa and elsewhere joined the effort, many explicitly highlighting how colonial harms and climate injustices are interconnected.
When the ICJ delivered its opinion in July 2025, there was a glaring omission. The word “colonialism” appeared nowhere in relation to climate change, neither in the main opinion nor in the 12 separate opinions and declarations issued by its judges. The ICJ also sidestepped a critical question: how far back in time can claims for climate obligations reach? This question is crucial, because former colonial powers often claim that colonialism was not prohibited under international law when it was practised and, therefore, no legal obligation to provide reparations exists. They also often defend their role in causing climate change by arguing that they were unaware of the harm and faced no legal limits on greenhouse gas emissions until recently.
Customary international law shatters the colonial defence
Despite its regrettable silence on the question of colonialism, the ICJ offered some reassurances to countries that are bearing the combined consequences of colonialism and climate change by affirming that states’ climate change obligations are not confined to climate treaties. They also flow from customary international law, which dictates that a state’s responsibility can extend into the present if a wrongful act continues to affect the enjoyment of human rights, regardless of when that act originally occurred.
Engaging customary international law is significant because it reshapes the question that any Court ought to ask about colonial climate legacies. In this context, the relevant question is not whether states can be held accountable for the intertwined impacts of colonialism and climate change. Nor is it how far back we should look to assign responsibility for greenhouse gas emissions, which linger in the atmosphere for centuries. The question is: are harms rooted in the colonial era, including those that shape climate vulnerability, causing human rights violations today?
The simple answer is yes. The greenhouse gases now heating our planet and fuelling a cascade of rights violations have been trapped in the atmosphere for generations. They are the direct legacy of the fossil fuel burning that powered the industrial rise of former colonial powers since the 1750s and their post World War I & II economic recovery. In Madagascar, the French colonial administration’s destruction of the drought-resilient vegetation that had long sustained the Antandroy people stripped them of their natural defence against recurring droughts. This forced them into dependence and cheap labour within the colonial cash-crop economy. All this helped expand the forging of Europe’s economic paths and markets, which were powered by the burning of fossil fuels, releasing unprecedented quantities of greenhouse gases, which caused climate change.
The ICJ’s half measure: Opening the door, then closing it
By affirming that customary international law can ground claims for climate-related reparations, the ICJ appeared to open the door for climate demands tied to colonial harms. Yet, in the same opinion, the ICJ reinforced one of the very arguments long used by those who benefited from colonialism to reject responsibility.
The ICJ stated that full reparation — through restitution, compensation or satisfaction — is possible only when a “sufficiently direct and certain causal link” can be proven between the wrongful act and the injury. But making such a definitive link between innumerable acts of colonial violence and the impacts they had in exacerbating climate-change vulnerability is nearly impossible.
The requirement of such a definitive link as a precondition for colonial reparations, without qualifying how it could practically work for colonialism and climate change impacts, provides cover to countries like France. In Madagascar’s case, for instance, the French government could easily argue: “It has been a century since the colonial destruction of drought-resistant vegetation, and factors like population growth have played a role and the act of greenhouse gas emissions and destruction of ecosystems was not regarded as a violation. How can France be held legally responsible and realistically be expected to quantify reparations today?” As UN experts have observed, “the greatest barrier to reparations for colonialism and slavery is that the principal beneficiaries of both lack the political will and moral courage to make them a reality.”
Will the African court echo the ICJ’s silence, or break it?
Since May 2025, the African Court on Human and Peoples’ Rights has been reviewing a request for an advisory opinion on the human and peoples’ rights obligations of African states in the context of climate change. This is more than a procedural exercise. The request highlights the relationship between climate change and colonialism – a point that human rights actors intend to emphasise in their submissions before the court.
This is therefore a chance for the African Court to articulate what the ICJ would not: that the fight for climate justice is inextricably linked with Africa’s fight for reparative justice.
Nciko wa Nciko and Samrawit Getaneh
This is therefore a chance for the Court to articulate what the ICJ would not: that the fight for climate justice is inextricably linked with Africa’s fight for reparative justice. Such a stance would lay bare the plight of those still suffering the intersecting harms of colonialism and climate change such as the Antandroy. It would contribute to breathing life into the Year of Reparations and align with the African Commission’s 2022 Resolution on Africa’s Reparations Agenda, which provides the African Court a mechanism through which to push African states to pursue justice for the trade and trafficking of enslaved Africans, colonialism and colonial crimes, and racial segregation. The possibilities remain open. It may also encourage them to return to the ICJ to give the world court an opportunity to redeem itself.
Nciko wa NcikoAmnesty International Climate Justice Advisor in East and Southern Africa and its lead advisor on human rights in MadagascarNciko wa Nciko is an Amnesty International Climate Justice Advisor in East and Southern Africa and its lead advisor on human rights in Madagascar.
Samrawit GetanehLegal researcher at the African Committee of Experts on the Rights and Welfare of the ChildSamrawit Getaneh is a legal researcher at the African Committee of Experts on the Rights and Welfare of the Child where she is the focal person for the topic of climate change.
The Rapid Support Forces (RSF) deliberately killed civilians, took hostages, pillaged and destroyed mosques, schools, and health clinics during a large-scale attack in April on Zamzam, the largest camp for internally displaced persons (IDPs) in North Darfur State, Amnesty International said in a new report published today. These violations must be investigated as war crimes under international law.
The report, “A refugedestroyed:RSFviolationsin Darfur’sZamzam camp forinternally displaced persons”, documents how, between 11 and 13 April 2025, the RSF attacked the camp, deploying explosive weapons and randomly shooting their firearms in populated residential areas. The relentless assault caused around 400,000 people to flee the camp between 13 and 14 April alone and was part of the RSF’s military campaign that began in May 2024 to capture El Fasher, the capital of North Darfur State. The RSF claimed control of El Fasher on 26 October, executing scores of unarmed men and raping dozens of women andgirls as they captured the city.
“The RSF’s horrific and deliberate assault on desperate, hungry civilians in Zamzam camp laid bare once again its alarming disregard for human life. Civilians were ruthlessly attacked, killed, robbed of items critical to their survival and livelihood, and left without recourse to justice, while grieving the loss of their loved ones. This was not an isolated attack, but part of a sustained campaign against villages and camps for internally displaced persons,” said Agnès Callamard, Amnesty International’s Secretary General. “Some international partners, such as the UAE, actively fueled the armed conflict by supporting the RSF with weapons.”
The RSF’s horrific and deliberate assault on desperate, hungry civilians in Zamzam camp laid bare once again its alarming disregard for human life.
Agnès Callamard, Amnesty International’s Secretary General
“The only way to end these violations is to stem the flow of arms to parties to the conflict by expanding the arms embargo that currently applies to Darfur to the rest of the country. The member states of the African Union, the European Union and the Intergovernmental Authority on Development (IGAD), the United Kingdom, United States, Russia, and China must call for all countries, in the first place the United Arab Emirates (UAE), to refrain from transferring weapons and ammunition to the RSF, Sudanese Armed Forces (SAF), and other actors. In addition, given the very high risk of diversion to the RSF, states must immediately cease all arms transfers to the UAE.”
For this report, Amnesty International conducted research between June and August 2025 and interviewed 29 people, mostly eyewitnesses, survivors, relatives of victims, journalists, conflict analysts, and medical personnel who responded to those injured during the attack. The organization also verified and analysed dozens of videos, photos and satellite imagery.
The RSF did not respond to Amnesty International’s request for comment.
‘Theshellingwaseverywhere’
Survivors of the assault told Amnesty International that, on Friday 11 April and Saturday 12 April, shells landed in homes, on streets and, in one case, near a mosque during a wedding ceremony – all densely populated areas – killing and injuring civilians and setting homes on fire.
Satellite imagery captured on 16 April and analyzed by Amnesty International showed new craters, providing further evidence of the widespread use of explosive weapons in populated areas.
The only way to end these violations is to stem the flow of arms to parties to the conflict by expanding the arms embargo that currently applies to Darfur to the rest of the country.
Agnès Callamard
Survivors gave harrowing accounts of fleeing burning neighbourhoods and hiding from heavy fighting. Younis*, an emergency room volunteer, said: “It was really bad. You could not identify where the shelling is coming from. It was everywhere, in every place.”
Mamoun*, a man in his mid-twenties who volunteered to distribute humanitarian aid, recalled: “[RSF] fighters were just shouting and shooting anywhere, so that is how many people were killed.”
[RSF] fighters were just shouting and shooting anywhere, so that is how many people were killed.
Mamoun*, Eyewitness
Sadya*, a volunteer for non-governmental organizations, described RSF fighters driving through her neighbourhood, not far from the main market in Zamzam, on 12 April: “One [RSF fighter] will stand up through a small roof and just shoot around and shoot anyone in the street.”
Shooting in such a manner without a specific military target may constitute an indiscriminate attack, a serious violation of international humanitarian law.
Amnesty International also documented RSF fighters deliberately shooting and killing civilians. Eyewitnesses told Amnesty International that they saw RSF fighters shoot and kill 47 civilians who were hiding in homes, fleeing the violence, at a clinic and seeking refuge in a mosque. The deliberate killing of individuals who do not participate or are no longer directly participating in hostilities is a serious violation of international humanitarian law and constitutes the war crime of murder.
Eyewitness accounts and video evidence demonstrate that the RSF targeted civilians due to their perceived affiliation to the Joint Forces – an alliance of former Darfur rebel groups, fighting alongside the SAF – and the SAF. RSF fighters also pillaged and set fire to homes, businesses, the market and structures in the compound of the Sheikh Farah school and mosque, destroying or badly damaging critical civilian infrastructure. Religious, medical, and educational infrastructure are ? is protected under international law.
The displaced persons interviewed by Amnesty described making arduous journeys in search of safety without food, water and medical services. Some experienced acts that may amount to the war crimes of rape, murder and pillage.
Without food, water, healthcare services or legal redress, the survivors of the attacks have felt abandoned by international actors. They told Amnesty International that their priorities are humanitarian aid, safety and the protection of civilians. They also called for criminal accountability and compensation for the crimes committed during and in the aftermath of the attack.
Elnor*, who witnessed around 15 armed men, likely RSF fighters, storm his compound and shoot and kill his 80-year-old brother and 30-year-old nephew, said: “No-one is concerned with our situation.”
* Names have been changed to protect identities of interviewees for security and confidentiality reasons.
