US envoy in Chad to spotlight Sudan atrocities she calls 'reminiscent' of Darfur 2004

6 September 2023 (Reuters) The U.S. envoy to the United Nations arrived in Chad on Wednesday to meet Sudanese refugees fleeing ethnic and sexual violence in Darfur, which it described as "reminiscent" of atrocities committed 20 years ago and declared genocide by Washington, Reuters reported.

Linda Thomas-Greenfield, a member of President Joe Biden's government, is scheduled to visit Chad's border with Darfur in western Sudan to highlight the worsening conflict and growing humanitarian crisis.

The war broke out in Sudan on April 15 – four years after former President Omar al-Bashir was ousted in a popular uprising. Tensions between the military and the paramilitary Rapid Support Forces (RSF), which staged a joint coup in 2021, erupted into fighting over a plan for a transition to civilian rule.

Thomas Greenfield said before arriving in Chad: "We have certainly reached a level of serious atrocities being committed, and this is very reminiscent of what we saw happening in 2004 that led to the identification of genocide."

"We hear from women being brutally gang-raped repeatedly, villages being raided, and there are aerial photographs showing mass graves. There are signs of that."

In the early 2000s, the United Nations estimated that some 300,000 people were killed in Darfur when the Janjaweed militias – the form of the RSF – helped the army crush an insurgency by mainly non-Arab groups. Sudanese leaders are wanted by the International Criminal Court for genocide and crimes against humanity, according to Reuters.