‘Enlist or die’: Fear, looming famine and a deadly ultimatum swell the ranks of Sudan’s paramilitary forces

In mid-December, the powerful paramilitary Rapid Support Forces (RSF) swept into Sudan’s central Al Jazira state, known as the country’s breadbasket, with an ultimatum: “Enlist or die.”

Since then, the militia group has sought to use food as a weapon, withholding supplies from the hungry in a bid to coerce men and boys to join its ranks, according to over three dozen witnesses.

The RSF has been battling the Sudanese Armed Forces (SAF) for control of the country since a civil war broke out between the two rival factions in April last year. Both forces have been accused of killing civilians. CNN reporting last year exposed an RSF-led campaign to enslave men and women, and other atrocities by the paramilitary group and its allied militias in Sudan’s western Darfur region – an area already scarred by what has been widely described as the 21st century’s first genocide.

Now, a CNN investigation has found that almost 700 men and 65 children have been forcibly recruited by the RSF over the past three months in Jazira state alone.

Many of the victims were identified by witnesses, survivors, and family members. CNN cross-checked their names with residents from their communities to get details of what happened in each case. The fighting has limited communications and restricted access to the media, making gathering accounts like these incredibly challenging.

CNN was independently able to corroborate the identities of all 750 people swept up by the RSF press gangs in Jazira. Of those, at least 600, including 50 boys under 18, joined the RSF in eastern Jazira, in many cases driven by hunger, witness testimonies revealed. Another 150, including 15 boys, were forcibly recruited in western Jazira. Many of the men previously worked as farmers or traders.

The RSF campaign unfolded in Sudan’s agricultural heartland during its peak cultivation and harvest period, exacerbating food insecurity in a country already on the brink of famine.

Eyewitnesses detailed a range of coercive methods employed by the RSF to compel individuals to join their ranks, including intimidation, torture, summary execution and the withholding of food and medical aid.

CNN has obtained and verified two videos from residents of a village in Jazira who described an RSF attack in early January. In one video, an RSF soldier, identified by his headgear and the insignia on his military fatigues, declares they have captured the village.