As a genocide unfolds in Sudan, the international community looks on, powerless. Sudanese civilians have become caught up in a conflict between two military leaders striving to gain complete control of the country. After four months of public protests calling for the immediate resignation of Sudan's former president, Omar el-Bechir (in office from 1989), and a change of government, the president's 30-year reign was overthrown on April 11, 2019. A Transitional Sovereignty Council was subsequently established for a period of 18 months, to bridge the gap until fresh elections could be held to restore civilian rule. Two military officials were appointed as the council’s leaders: General Abdel Fattah al Burhan and General Mohamed Hamdan Dagalo, also known as Hemedti. However, on September 21, 2021, the council experienced its first attempted coup d’état, led by the supporters of former president, Omar al-Bashir. The following month, on October 25, another coup d’état saw General Abdel Fattah al Burhan dissolve the country's transitional government. On November 11, a new Transitional Sovereignty Council was created to replace the previous government. Although General Abdel Fattah al Burhan and General Mohamed Hamdan Dagalo retained their respective positions, a conflict soon broke out between the two men, thus hampering the country's democratic transition process. To better understand the source of this conflict, French newspaper, Courrier International, provides a brief explanation in this video: On April 15, 2023, Abdel Fattah al Burhan and Mohamed Hamdan Dagalo, backed by the Sudanese Armed Forces (SAF) and the Rapid Support Forces (RSF) respectively, plunged the country into a deadly war. After being accused of deploying his troops in Darfur, Sudan's capital, Khartoum, and other Sudanese cities on May 19, Mohamed Hamdan Dagalo was ultimately removed from his position as the transitional council's deputy leader. Sudanese civilians are effectively caught in the middle of an ego conflict between two generals over the country’s leadership. Due to being targeted by both factions, Sudan’s estimated population of over 48 million citizens often bears the brunt of this conflict. The violent treatment and killing of civilians have been recorded by international organizations, like Amnesty International. In its report “Sudan: “Death came to our home”: War crimes and civilian suffering in Sudan,” published on August 3, 2023, this organization blames both factions for the “deliberate and indiscriminate attacks” that left thousands of civilians dead and injured. An extract from the report states: Des milliers d’hommes, de femmes et d’enfants sont pris entre deux feux et les combattants des deux parties, qui utilisent souvent des armes inadaptées et des munitions explosives à large rayon d’impact, se positionnent souvent dans des zones résidentielles densément peuplées, d’où ils lancent des attaques. Les pillages et saccages de biens publics et privés, dont des infrastructures médicales et humanitaires, auxquels se livrent les parties au conflit exacerbent la situation humanitaire déjà catastrophique. Plus de 2,6 millions de personnes ont été déplacées à l’intérieur du pays et plus de 750 000 ont fui dans les pays voisins. Thousands of men, women and children have been caught in the crossfire, as the warring sides often use inaccurate weapons and explosive weapons with wide area effects, with fighters locating themselves in, and launching attacks from, densely populated residential areas. Looting and trashing of public and private property, including medical and humanitarian facilities, by the warring sides has exacerbated an already dire humanitarian situation. More than 2.6 million people have been internally displaced and over 750,000 have crossed into neighboring countries. According to the Geneva Convention, as this war is a non-international armed conflict, civilian lives should be spared. However, this is not the case in Sudan. Sudanese civilians have become victims of all kinds of violence. Women and young girls have also been subjected to sexual assault and gang rapes. One such survivor from El Geneina (a city located in the southeast of the country bordering Chad) gave her account in this Amnesty International report: On n’est nulle part en sécurité à El Geneina. Je suis sortie de chez moi parce qu’il y avait partout des coups de feu […] et ces criminels m’ont violée. Maintenant je crains d’être enceinte […] Je ne pourrais pas le supporter. There is no safety anywhere in El Geneia. I left home because there was shooting everywhere […] and these criminals raped me. Now I am afraid I may be pregnant […] I fear that I cannot cope with that. Armed groups have caused terror and death in several towns.