Partners in Crime

Dr Inas Mohamed Ahmed
Amnesty International was founded in a remarkable and well-known way. Its story began when the English lawyer Peter Benenson (born 21 July 1921 in Oxford, died 25 February 2005) became angered by the seven-year imprisonment of two Portuguese students. On 19 November 1960 he was so outraged that he wrote an article for The Observer, published on 28 May 1961, entitled “The Forgotten Prisoners”. He launched a campaign called “Appeal for Amnesty” that resonated with many, and as a result, the article was widely republished around the world. He called on people to stand together for justice and freedom, and this formed the first spark that led, in July 1961, to the establishment of an organisation concerned with defending those imprisoned for their political or religious beliefs.
The organisation set out its objectives as exerting legal and impartial efforts to support detainees held for political, ideological, or freedom-of-expression-related reasons; ensuring they receive fair and public trials; safeguarding the right to political asylum; preventing long-term detention without trial; rejecting the death penalty and all forms of torture or violations of human rights; and calling for an effective global system to guarantee freedom of opinion.
The organisation publishes an annual report and is keen to coordinate with media outlets to present its findings and provide governments with the information contained therein. It has the right to send observers to public trials and plays a role in mobilising global public opinion on humanitarian issues. A unique strategic function it performs is coordinating between non-governmental organisations and regional and international bodies to protect human rights. The organisation has members and supporters in more than 150 countries, drawn from diverse social groups and beliefs, all working voluntarily.
Amnesty International was awarded the Nobel Peace Prize in 1977 in recognition of its efforts to defend human rights and combat torture.
Founded in London in July 1961 as a non-governmental organisation, Amnesty International has documented tangible achievements in protecting and promoting human rights during peacetime, war, and armed conflict.
In a report published in early December under the title “Devastating Haven”, the organisation stated that there is evidence indicating that the terrorist Rapid Support Forces militia carried out deliberate killings of civilians, took hostages, and looted and destroyed mosques, schools, hospitals, and medical clinics during its attack on Zamzam Camp for the Displaced—the largest displacement camp in North Darfur State, home to nearly one million people. The attack occurred between 11 and 13 April 2025, and the crimes and violations resulted from heavy, indiscriminate, and deliberate gunfire directed at civilians.
Agnes Callamard, the Secretary-General of Amnesty International, stated that civilians had been subjected to a “brutal and ferocious attack”, and that this assault formed part of an organised campaign targeting villages and displacement camps. She also confirmed that international partners are fuelling the war—particularly the United Arab Emirates, through supplying the militia with weapons. She stressed that the only way to end these violations is to halt the flow of arms and expand the arms embargo currently applied in Darfur.
She further emphasised the need for the African Union, the European Union, IGAD, the United Kingdom, the United States, Russia, and China to call on all countries—foremost among them the UAE—to prevent the militia from receiving weapons.
Thus ended the statement of Amnesty International’s Secretary-General.
This report was based on evidence that included satellite imagery, video recordings, the testimonies of victims fleeing Zamzam Camp, and eyewitness accounts. The satellite images presented in the report even reveal the types of weapons and explosives directed at civilians.
It is an established fact that indiscriminate gunfire constitutes a grave violation of international humanitarian law. Killing civilians inside their homes or while they seek refuge in mosques, schools, or hospitals likewise violates international humanitarian law and amounts to a war crime. Added to this are numerous crimes of rape, looting, torture, forced detention, and kidnapping—all classified as war crimes.
No regional or international body has condemned this terrorist militia; Amnesty International’s findings are entirely consistent with United Nations reports.
It is noteworthy that The Guardian published an investigation in August 2025 stating that Zamzam Camp had suffered one of the most horrific massacres and the second-largest war crime committed during the ongoing war in Sudan. Astonishingly, the attack on Zamzam Camp occurred just before the International Peace Conference organised by the United Kingdom in London on 16 April 2025, aimed at mobilising support for humanitarian aid and mapping out a plan to end the war in Sudan.
Even more astonishing was the revelation—reported in the same Guardian investigation—that the British government had received multiple warnings from the United Nations and from Yale University’s research centre regarding an imminent attack by the militia on Zamzam Camp within days. Yet Britain “remained silent”. Neither it nor the UN did anything to protect the unarmed civilians—men, women, and children—inside the camp.
This explains why the international community’s response did not match the scale of the humanitarian catastrophe. The international community continues, deliberately, to overlook designating the murderous militia as a terrorist organisation, and likewise avoids publicly condemning the UAE and holding it accountable for fuelling the war and supporting terrorism. This renders all parties “partners in the crime”—those who knew and stayed silent, those who warned but took no positive action, and those who ignored and persisted in silence.
But history is now recording the story of a heroic people, a proud nation, and a valiant army—and victory, God willing, is inevitable.

Shortlink: https://sudanhorizon.com/?p=9255