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Sudan Cultural Genocide
Investigation of Cultural Erasure of Sudanese Heritage

The destruction of Sudan’s cultural heritage during the current conflict reveals a systematic assault on the institutions, sites, and practices that represent the country’s historical and collective memory. The choice of the term “cultural genocide” to name the report can seem curious since it is not explicitly codified as a proper crime under the 1948 Genocide Convention and international law; Nevertheless, subsequent international legal frameworks recognize that targeting the cultural, religious, and historical foundations of a country may constitute evidence of genocidal intent. Following up on the 1948 Convention, the 1954 Hague Convention,  and the Rome Statute designate places of worship, museums, archives, cemeteries, manuscripts, and other cultural property as protected objects. Their intentional destruction is treated as a serious violation of international humanitarian law and a war crime.


Within this framework, this report explores through documentation how the Sudan conflict presents a case of cultural genocide through the cumulative destruction and exploitation of heritage sites. Museums in Khartoum have been looted and damaged, resulting in the loss of archaeological collections of one of the culturally richest countries. Archaeological zones have been endangered by troop movement and the absence of protective oversight. Study centers and archives have experienced disruption, undermining the academic infrastructure responsible for preserving Sudanese knowledge.


The pattern extends into the religious sphere. Mosques have been repeatedly assaulted during prayer times, notably the Tijaniyya Mosque in Omdurman, Al-Masjid al-ʿAtiq in El Fasher, and the King Farouk Mosque in central Khartoum. Churches, too, have suffered targeted destruction and looting, as detailed in investigative documentation of assaults on the Melkite Greek Catholic Church, the Church of the Immaculate Conception, and St. Matthew’s Cathedral. 


Taken together, these acts demonstrate a pattern aimed not only at territorial control but at severing the continuity of Sudan’s historical memory, religious traditions, and cultural identity. This report examines that pattern across museums, archaeological sites, academic centers, and religious structures, situating the ongoing destruction within the broader legal and cultural framework of cultural genocide

Museums

Natural History Museum

 15°36'32"N 32°32'25"E

The National History Museum is located near the mosque. According to an Arabic Wikipedia page, the museum is situated on the central campus of the University of Khartoum, on University Street, in the area between the Institute of African and Asian Studies and the University of Khartoum Consulting House, which is a broad description. Nevertheless, I found an Arabic website named “اكتشف العالم”, which translates to “discover the world”, giving a segment in 2015 on the museum. Here is the YouTube Video.

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We can see in the YouTube Video the entry door

We can see that the entry door has no roof, and it gives access to a courtyard with squares on the ground and a big tree near the entry door, which perfectly fit the satellite image of the location. 

Arabic journalistic resources heavily document the disaster at the National History Museum of Khartoum. This is an Al Jazeera translated article.

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“The hand of destruction also reached the Natural History Museum, which suffered severe damage due to its proximity to the General Command Headquarters of the Army. Its opening dates back to 1958 AD, and it contains rare animals that were killed by hunger and thirst, and other mummified extinct animals that were lost, as well as plant seeds and samples of rare rocks and herbs, which were also looted. But the greatest disaster was the loss of the museum's records.”

As Al Jazeera is stating, it is purely a disaster that museum records got lost… It can mean that looted mummified species will never be found. Another article of Al Jazeera cite this.

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“Sarah Abdullah, director of the Natural History Museum at the University of Khartoum, says that the museum contains reference specimens that make it one of the most important natural history museums in the world. She continues on Al Jazeera Net, saying, "The museum includes live animals of reptiles, birds, and mammals, in addition to research specimens of poisonous snakes and scorpions belonging to the Poisonous Organisms Research Center at the University of Khartoum. All this wealth has not found anyone to take care of it. The animals have lacked anyone to feed them since the first shot was fired, so they died."

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Accordingly, I couldn’t find any source mentioning the bombing of the museum, nor did I see any distinguishable damage through satellites.

Darfur Community Museum (Nyala Museum)

12° 2'28.90"N,  24°52'24.58"E

Foundation: 1979–1980 by the National Corporation for Antiquities and Museums (NCAM).
Purpose: to preserve Darfur’s ethnographic, archaeological, and traditional craft heritage.


Pre-Civil war: Darfur has been a conflictual area since 2003, so the museum looting started around 2003-2005. But it was isolated thefts and not documented systemic looting as between 2021-2023.


General situation: When the 2023 war between SAF and RSF spread to Darfur, Nyala (South Darfur capital) became a frontline. The museum was caught in RSF-controlled territory. Robberies became a political symbolic message to erase state symbols and some ethnicities. Documentation disappeared (paper records, computers), erasing provenance trails.

 

Al-Jazeera Arabic (Sept 2024): “Destruction also reached the Nyala Museum, which was completely looted; its collections and building suffered severe damage.”
-Same Al-Jazeera report: “Shelling partially destroyed the roof, leaving exhibits exposed to rainfall.”

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The New Arab (2024): Reports “theft of all display materials, furniture, and exhibition collections.”

NCAM communications (2024): reports indicate loss of inventory logs and accession cards erasing documents.

Residents interviewed in 2023 mentioned that the museum building was used as a shelter for displaced civilians and later for RSF soldiers.

While imagery doesn’t reveal any significant damage to the museum campus structures alone, the entire neighborhood to the south of the structure has been impacted by projectiles, with roofs collapsing inward. It is therefore reasonable to believe that the Nyala Museum has either been raided or is at significant risk.


Imagery is April 2023 and March 2025, with the museum campus at the upper right.

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Sultan Ali Darfur Museum

13°37'34.05"N,  25°20'57.65"E

The Sultan Ali Dinar Museum in El Fasher, North Darfur, dedicated to the legacy of Darfur’s last sultan, was heavily damaged during the current conflict. Originally restored and reopened with international support in recent years, the museum was shelled by Rapid Support Forces (RSF) in January 2025, according to multiple reports, which led to a fire that destroyed large parts of the building and consumed much of its collection, including the Sultan’s personal belongings and ethnographic materials. Sudanese heritage authorities and journalists note that the roof and interior suffered severe damage, while eyewitness accounts describe the museum as effectively destroyed. 


Documentation was minimal and mostly paper-based; most records were destroyed in the attack, leaving no complete official inventory. This loss makes the stolen artefacts untraceable. Arabic and international sources consistently attribute the looting to RSF-aligned fighters, with destruction taking place between 10 and 15 January 2025.


The museum situation is extremely well documented by Arabic media.

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Imagery is from May 2023 and January 2025. Notice that the January 2025 imagery appears to look like a spiderweb. Those are the beams of the structure, which you can see in this ground photograph from The Art Newspaper.

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May 2023

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January 2025

Republican Palace Museum

15°36'28.51"N,  32°31'44.47"E

The Republican Palace Museum (متحف القصر الجمهوري) in Khartoum, housed inside the old All Saints’ Cathedral on the presidential palace grounds, was badly damaged during the Sudanese civil war after the RSF seized the complex on April 15, 2023. Reports and photographs show the museum’s interior reduced to charred wreckage, with smashed antique cars, burned exhibits, and debris scattered throughout, while the palace buildings themselves suffered repeated fires and shelling from both RSF and SAF offensives through 2023–2024. Though the full extent of looting is still unknown, heritage experts warn that the destruction represents a major blow to Sudan’s modern cultural history; the site remained contested until the Sudanese military retook the palace in March 2025. The museum now exists as a heavily damaged, partially burned site, reflecting the large collapse of cultural heritage in Khartoum.

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Imagery is April 2023, November 2024, and February 2025. Note that shelling has damaged the roof.

This Instagram post helps me illustrate the museum artefacts and content before its destruction

This article from Independent Arabia helps me illustrate the destruction of the museum.

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Museum artifacts before / after conflict

Findings

April-July 2023 

On April 15, 2023, the RSF took over the Republican Palace Museum in Khartoum, Sudan.  The museum, located within the Presidential Palace, houses a main hall, an old car gallery, and a library with valuable archives, all of which were put at risk. The full extent of damage or theft remains unclear. Additionally, the nearby old palace sustained damage to its facade. The museum has been closed since December 2019 and was guarded by 10-20 soldiers at the time of the attack. This action was part of the RSF’s broader strategy of destruction and destabilization in Sudan.

Between April 17 and April 20, 2023, the Sudan National Museum in Khartoum was damaged, reportedly by the RSF. The museum, which houses a significant collection of Nubian artifacts and architectural elements, sustained damage to two critical structures: one housing the ancient Egyptian Temple of Buhen and another containing a segment of the Temple of Aksha’s wall. The destruction of such a large museum with irreplaceable collections has significant implications for Sudan’s cultural heritage and the broader archaeological heritage of North Africa.

On May 6, 2023, a devastating fire engulfed the Industrial Research and Consultation Centre (IRCC) in Khartoum, Sudan, allegedly caused by the RSF. The fire led to the destruction of critical research data, reports, and the facility itself. The IRCC was a vital institution that conducted research, provided feasibility studies, performed physical and chemical testing on materials, issued quality certifications, offered industrial training and guidance, and supported technology transfer and localization efforts. Since 2020, it has held the UNESCO Chair for Technology Transfer in Sudan.

On May 16, 2023, a fire set by looters (unknown) destroyed the archives at the Muhammad Omar Bashir Centre for Sudanese Studies at Omdurman Ahlia University in Omdurman, Sudan. The archives held one of the largest collections of historical, political, and cultural documents in the country. According to Al-Mutassim Ahmed Al-Hajj, the head of the Centre, the looting lasted for 10 days, and the fire obliterated the archive’s contents, leaving only scorched bookholders and shelves. Al-Hajj described the incident as a deliberate attempt to damage the private university, a key institution of higher education in Sudan. The attack occurred in an area controlled by the RSF, and despite the Centre notifying the RSF about the looting, no intervention was made.

On June 2, 2023, the M Bolheim Bioarchaeology Laboratory in Khartoum, Sudan, was raided by RSF fighters. The laboratory displayed ancient human remains dating back to around 3300-3000 BCE, including artifacts from the Kerma culture and the Kingdom of Kush. The soldiers looted the site, falsely claiming the remains were victims of former president Omar al-Bashir’s regime and referring to them as "the work of kayzan" (a term for Bashir's supporters). Established in 2019 by Sudan's National Corporation for Antiquities and Museums in partnership with the British Museum, the laboratory became a target of mockery by the RSF, who called the remains “corpses” and stated, "fear will be buried”.

On June 14, 2023, the Abdul Karim Mirghani Center in Omdurman, Sudan, was ransacked by the RSF. Established in May 1998, the center houses a library, research facilities, a theater, and an archive containing audiovisual materials such as CDs and cassettes. It also includes a publishing unit. Before the conflict, the center was actively engaged in digitizing the historical records of Sudan's labor movement.

On July 5, 2023, Saraya Al-Sharif Al-Hindi, a historically significant religious and cultural site in Khartoum's Berri Al-Lamab area, was reported to have collapsed amid armed clashes. Constructed in the early 20th century by Al-Sharif Yusuf Al-Hindi, a prominent anti-colonial leader, the site has served as a key religious center, housing the tombs of figures like Al-Sharif Hussein Al-Hindi and Al-Sharif Zain Al-Abidin Al-Hindi. The complex included reception halls, religious schoolrooms, and a sacred well. Its destruction marks a significant cultural and historical loss for the region.



 

August-December 2023

On November 6, 2023, the RSF targeted the Anglican Church in Omdurman, Khartoum. The church was shared by Episcopal and Evangelical congregations and is the second oldest Christian church in Omdurman, dating to the early 1900s. The interior of the church was gutted and burned. No people were harmed in the attack.  

Between December 18, 2023, when the RSF seized control of the Gezira state, and January 3, 2024, RSF forces looted the University of Gezira (Al-Jazirah University). The RSF looted university administration, academic affairs, student affairs, and dean’s offices. The University’s savings bank, farm, International Hall, and associated institutions of learning were also ransacked. RSF members also looted professors’ homes in the nearby Nashishiba neighborhood, Hantoub, and Abu Haraz areas. RSF commanders have denied these accusations, although eye-witness accounts and reports from residents corroborate these claims, and added that RSF commanders demanded the recruitment of young men when approached.

 

January-April 2024

On January 13, 2024, the Evangelical Church in Wad Madani, Gezira State, Sudan, was set on fire and partially destroyed by members of the RSF. Established in 1939, the church—a historical landmark—suffered extensive damage, including the destruction of its main hall and library, which contained rare documents. The attack occurred while the church was unoccupied, and it is believed that the RSF, who controlled the area, was aware of and approved the attack (Sudan Tribune 2024). 

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On February 3, 2024, the RSF looted Nyala University in South Darfur, Sudan. During the attack, the university's library was ransacked and destroyed.

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On February 25, 2024, RSF members desecrated the main mosque in Aburof, Omdurman. The mosque's interior was vandalized, and the building was used as a fighting base, with looted goods stored inside. A tuk-tuk was even parked in the prayer hall.14

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On March 12, 2024, SAF General Al-Burhan ordered a technical team to recover Sudan's damaged national radio, television, and cinema archives in Omdurman, Sudan, which had been vandalized, allegedly by the RSF. The collected archive materials were placed in front of the gates, but no details were provided about the collection process or where the materials were relocated.

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On April 1, 2024, the Rapid Support Forces (RSF) looted the Khalifa House Museum in Omdurman, Sudan, stealing valuable artifacts and causing extensive damage to this UNESCO World Heritage site. A committee, including officials from the Antiquities Authority and Khalifa Abdullah’s family, was formed to assess the damage. The Governor of Khartoum, Mr. Ahmed Osman Hamza, described the attack as a deliberate crime against Sudan’s history. The looting of museums has led to concern that the RSF is utilizing the sale of trafficked antiquities as a source of funding, as images of looted antiquities from Sudan appear on internet marketplaces.

 

May-August 2024

On June 23, 2024, the RSF shelled the El Tijaniya Sufi mosque, its Quran school, and charity kitchen in the El Tijaniya neighborhood of El Fasher in North Darfur. Residents had taken shelter in the mosque, and the shelling resulted in the deaths of nine children and injuries to at least twelve other civilians, including children and infants. The shelling of the El Tijaniya neighborhood was part of a wider strategy by the RSF to gain control over El Fasher, one of the last remaining areas held under SAF control. 

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On July 23, 2024, RSF forces looted the University of Gezira (Al-Jazirah University) in the city of Wad Madani in Gezira state. The RSF stole medical equipment and heavily vandalized the Faculty of Medicine and Faculty of Laboratories. This is the second time the University was severely looted and damaged in 2024, after the first reports in January.  

 

September-December 2024

On September 2, 2024, the RSF looted the National Museum of Sudan in Khartoum. Satellite images reportedly show trucks transporting looted artifacts into South Sudan. The exact items taken remain unclear, as it is unsafe for staff to conduct inventory. This looting raises security concerns due to the illegal trade of antiquities, often used to fund armed groups, prompting UNESCO to issue warnings about trafficked objects.

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On September 26, 2024, the Abu Safita mosque in El Fasher, Darfur, was damaged by artillery fire from the Rapid Support Forces (RSF). The mosque, located in an area under Sudanese Army control (13.622568, 25.354281), was targeted as the RSF advanced toward the headquarters of the 6th Division.

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On October 23, 2024, the SAF dropped barrel bombs on the Sheikh El Jeili Mosque in Wad Madani, Gezira State, after evening prayers. The attack, amidst rising tensions between SAF and the RSF, resulted in at least 31 casualties with 15 identified victims. Dozens of body parts remain unidentifiable. The strike came following the defection of the RSF’s former commander in Al Jazirah state to the army.

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From October 20-29, 2024, the RSF continued their revenge campaign in East Al Jazirah, Central Sudan. The RSF attacked Al Hilaliya, killing five people and trapping residents in mosques. This followed the defection of RSF commander Abu Aqla Kikal to the army on October 20. On October 21, the RSF attacked Al-Jaqoqab village, executing the mosque imam and his son, and forcing residents to flee.

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On November 18, 2024, the RSF shelled Al-Rashad Mosque in Omdurman during evening prayers, killing five civilians and injuring several others, including children. The mosque's Imam was severely injured, losing his leg. The escalation of fighting and shelling in the area is part of the RSF's attempt to gain control of the capital city. 

Conclusion

Since the start of the civil war in April of 2023, we have a high degree of confidence that the RSF has employed cultural destruction as a tactic to further destabilize the region and, ultimately, pursue genocide. 

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The recurring themes in this report are as follows: the primary perpetrator is typically the RSF, and places of worship (mosques and churches) and education (universities, museums, and archives) are most vulnerable to attacks. The implications of these attacks are severe; the loss of cultural, historical, and educational materials housed at museums, archives, and universities is irreplaceable, while the damage to physical structures deprives Sudan of its architectural heritage—losses that will take years to recover from, if recovery is possible. 

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The deliberate and repeated destruction of cultural sites is a key indicator of cultural genocide, as it erases the history and identity of targeted groups. It is crucial to continue monitoring reports of cultural destruction. We urge the international community to recognize these actions not only as cultural genocide, but as genocide in its full scope.

Bibliography

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