LEILA FADEL, HOST:
There are widespread reports of executions and other atrocities in the Darfur region of Sudan. U.N. officials and activists have been sounding the alarm for many months, but have been unable to stop what they see as a repeat of a genocide that happened in Darfur two decades ago. NPR's Michele Kelemen has this report, which lasts about 2 minutes and mentions sexual assault and graphic violence.
MICHELE KELEMEN, BYLINE: The U.N.'s emergency relief coordinator, Tom Fletcher, says the city of El Fasher has descended into, quote, a "darker hell." After a more-than-500-day siege, a paramilitary group called the Rapid Support Forces entered the city. And there have been credible reports since of mass executions, even at a maternity ward.
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TOM FLETCHER: Can anyone here say that we did not know this was coming? We cannot hear the screams, but as we sit here today, the horror is continuing. Women and girls are being raped, people mutilated and killed with utter impunity.
KELEMEN: At that same Security Council meeting, another top U.N. official, Martha Pobee, said it's hard to know just how many civilians have been killed in recent days.
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MARTHA POBEE: No one is safe in El Fasher. There is no safe passage for civilians to leave the city.
KELEMEN: And those who do try to leave are targeted by the Rapid Support Forces, according to U.S. ambassador Dorothy Shea, who told the council that the RSF has committed genocide.
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DOROTHY SHEA: RSF militias are targeting civilians as they flee, killing innocent people escaping conflict and preventing those who remain from accessing lifesaving supplies.
KELEMEN: Here in Washington, the Republican chairman of the Senate Foreign Relations Committee, Jim Risch, has suggested that the U.S. designate the RSF as a terrorist organization. The ranking Democrat on that committee, Senator Jeanne Shaheen, says the U.S. should call out the United Arab Emirates, which has been arming the RSF.
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JEANNE SHAHEEN: UAE has been an irresponsible player who's contributed to one of the worst humanitarian crises that we have on the planet right now.
KELEMEN: The UAE's ambassador to the U.N. says his country is committed to peace talks that the U.S. is promoting.
Michele Kelemen, NPR News, the State Department. Transcript provided by NPR, Copyright NPR.
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