Sudan warring parties committed violations that may amount to war crimes: UN mission

ISTANBUL

Sudan’s warring sides have committed a “range of harrowing” human rights violations and international crimes, including many which may amount to war crimes and crimes against humanity, said a report by the UN’s Independent International Fact-Finding Mission.

In its report published on Monday, the UN mission highlighted that "both the Sudanese Armed Forces (SAF) and the Rapid Support Forces (RSF), as well as their respective allies, were found to be responsible for patterns of large-scale violations, including indiscriminate and direct attacks carried out through airstrikes and shelling against civilians, schools, hospitals, communication networks and vital water and electricity supplies.”

The report said that the warring sides also “targeted civilians – as well as those assisting survivors or documenting violations – through rape and other forms of sexual violence, arbitrary arrest and detention, as well as torture and ill-treatment.”

“The gravity of these findings underscores the urgent and immediate action to protect civilians,” said Mohamed Chande Othman, the head of the mission.

“Given the failure of the warring parties to spare civilians, it is imperative that an independent and impartial force with a mandate to safeguard civilians be deployed without delay,” he added.

The fact-finding mission, established by the UN Human Rights Council in October 2023, based its findings on investigations conducted between January and August 2024. These investigations included visits to Chad, Kenya, and Uganda, as well as direct testimonies from 182 survivors, their families and eyewitnesses, and extensive consultations with experts and civil society members.

The report recommended expanding the arms embargo imposed on the Darfur region under UN Security Council Resolution 1556 (2004) to cover all of Sudan, in order to halt the supply of weapons, ammunition, and other logistical or financial support to the warring factions, and to prevent further escalation.

There has been no immediate response from the Sudanese authorities regarding the findings of the report.

Since Monday, violent clashes between the Sudanese army and the RSF have intensified in the capital Khartoum, after a brief period of relative calm in recent weeks.

Sudan has been mired by fighting between the army led by Gen. Abdel Fattah al-Burhan, head of the ruling Sovereign Council, and the RSF, led by his former deputy Mohamed Hamdan Dagalo.

The situation in Sudan remains dire amid a deadly conflict that has killed nearly 18,800 people and displaced close to 10 million people since April 2023, according to UN figures.


* Writing by Ikram Kouachi