Human Rights Council Calls for Urgent Inquiry into Recent Alleged Violations of International Law Committed in and Around El Fasher, Sudan
The Human Rights Council today held a special session on the human rights situation in and around El Fasher, Sudan, adopting without a vote a resolution in which it requested the Independent International Fact-Finding Mission for the Sudan to conduct an urgent inquiry into the recent alleged violations of international law committed in and around El Fasher.
In the resolution on the human rights situation in and around El Fasher, Sudan (A/HRC/S-38/L.1 as orally revised), the Council strongly condemned the escalating violence and reported atrocities committed by the Rapid Support Forces and associated forces in and around El Fasher, following their assault on the city, including large-scale atrocities such as ethnically motivated killings, torture, summary executions, and widespread use of sexual and gender-based violence as a weapon of warfare.
The Council requested the Fact-Finding Mission to identify, where possible, all those for whom there were reasonable grounds to believe that they were responsible for alleged violations and abuses of international human rights law and to support efforts to ensure that the perpetrators of alleged abuses were held accountable.
It also requested the Office of the High Commissioner for Human Rights to present an oral update to the Council on the human rights situation in El Fasher, followed by an interactive dialogue, before its sixty-first session, and requested the Fact-Finding Mission to present a report on the findings of its inquiry to the Council at its sixty-first session, followed by an enhanced interactive dialogue, to be combined with the dialogue with the High Commissioner and the Designated Expert on Human Rights in the Sudan.
The Council adopted the report of the special session ad referendum. This was the thirty-eighth special session of the Council.
The special session opened with a series of keynote addresses. The first was made by Volker Türk, United Nations High Commissioner for Human Rights, who said that the atrocities that were unfolding in El Fasher were foreseen and preventable – but they were not prevented. Since the Rapid Support Forces took control of El Fasher, there had been mass killings of civilians; ethnically targeted executions; sexual violence, including gang rape; and other appalling atrocities. This was a pattern that the Human Rights Office had documented time and again in this conflict.
Mr. Türk said the international community needed to stand up against these atrocities, and ensure that civilians from El Fasher and the surrounding areas had access to the humanitarian aid and protection they so desperately needed. He implored all parties to the conflict to engage in meaningful peace negotiations, a humanitarian truce, and a transition to inclusive civilian rule.
Adama Dieng, Special Envoy of the African Union on the prevention of genocide and mass atrocities, said the African Union called upon the international community to redouble efforts to silence the guns in Sudan through inclusive dialogue and robust diplomatic engagement. It demanded an immediate end to the flow of weapons and fighters into Sudan, which was further, and very directly, contributing to the systematic targeting of specific identity groups and to the already desperate situation in the country. He said this session needed to mark a turning point - a rallying call for shared humanity and duty.
Surya Deva, Chair of the Coordination Committee of the Special Procedures of the Human Rights Council, said that since the beginning of the conflict, the Special Procedures had warned of widespread atrocities, massive displacement, and the catastrophic impact on civilians. The Coordination Committee urged the international community to use all means available to end the bloodshed, ensure the protection of civilians, and hold accountable those responsible for these crimes. It stood ready to assist the Council, the High Commissioner and all relevant actors in monitoring and responding to the human rights implications of this crisis.
Mona Rishmawi, member of the Independent International Fact-Finding Mission for the Sudan, said much of El-Fasher was now a crime scene. Since it fell into the hands of the Rapid Support Forces, the Fact-Finding Mission had interviewed witnesses and collected evidence of unspeakable atrocities. The horrors unfolding in El Fasher could have been prevented, as they were the direct result of decades of impunity. They could, and must, be now stopped. Those who backed, financed and armed this machinery of brutality had the power - and the duty - to halt it. The individuals and entities behind these crimes needed to face justice.
Niemat Ahmedib, President, Darfur Women Action Group, said she was horrified by the plight of people in El Fasher. In the last few days, the Rapid Support Forces had taken control of El Fasher, which had witnessed a massacre and unspeakable suffering of men, women and children. The international community should not allow world leaders to condone or ignore genocide. Ms. Ahmedib said the Rapid Support Forces could not bring peace to Sudan. The Council needed to hold the malicious group accountable and take serious, effective action to restore dignity and the people’s confidence in international institutions.
Hassan Hamid Hassan, Permanent Representative of Sudan to the United Nations Office at Geneva, speaking as the concerned country, said since the beginning of the conflict, Sudan had been warning that it was wrong to equate the Sudanese Armed Forces with the Rapid Support Forces. The Rapid Support Forces had shown that it was a criminal, terrorist militia. Sudan had called in multiple United Nations fora for pressure on this militia and on the country supporting it, the United Arab Emirates. The Rapid Support Forces had engaged in a siege on El Fasher for more than one year, and the result was the atrocities that were being witnessed.
After hearing opening statements, the Council held a discussion on the resolution, in which speakers expressed alarm at the situation unfolding in Sudan, especially in and around El Fasher and North Darfur. Many expressed shock and condemnation regarding reports and video footage of human rights violations carried out by the Rapid Support Forces in El Fasher in recent weeks. Some speakers said perpetrators of these violations needed to be held to account, expressing support for robust accountability mechanisms such as the Fact-Finding Mission and the International Criminal Court. Several speakers called for an immediate end to the war.
Some speakers supported the convening of the special session and the development of the resolution being presented. They said that the Council needed to support the resolution, which condemned the atrocities, demanded unfettered humanitarian access, and mandated an urgent inquiry by the Fact-Finding Mission.
Other speakers, however, condemned external interference in Sudan, which was they said could aggravate tensions and further destabilise the region. They stressed the need to respect Sudan’s sovereignty, independence, territorial integrity and rich natural resources, and rejected solutions that did not enjoy the acceptance of the concerned country.
At the end of the discussion, the United Arab Emirates and Chad spoke in right of reply. The United Arab Emirates denied statements that it was supporting the Rapid Support Forces, while Chad denied a statement saying it was facilitating the transfer of arms to the Rapid Support Forces in Sudan.
Speaking were the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland (on behalf of a group of countries), Norway (on behalf of a group of countries), Ghana (on behalf of the African Group), European Union (on behalf of a group of countries), Algeria (on behalf of the Arab Group), Pakistan (on behalf of the Organization of Islamic Cooperation), Kuwait, Qatar, Republic of Korea, Japan, Spain, South Africa, Algeria, Indonesia, Ethiopia, Belgium, Kenya, Mexico, Germany, Switzerland, China, North Macedonia, Ghana, Maldives, Cyprus, Brazil, Romania, Democratic Republic of the Congo, France, Netherlands, Chile, Albania, Bulgaria, Bangladesh, Morocco, Gambia, Viet Nam, Malawi, United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland, United Arab Emirates, United Nations Women, Saudi Arabia, Luxembourg, Jordan, Slovakia, Egypt, Monaco, Ireland, Türkiye, Ukraine, Greece, Chad, Liechtenstein, United Nations Children's Fund, Australia, Venezuela, Canada, Eritrea, Uruguay, Cameroon, Austria, Sierra Leone, Nigeria, Slovenia, Zambia, Malaysia, Iraq, Malta, Republic of Moldova, Portugal, New Zealand, State of Palestine, Andorra, Zimbabwe, Mauritania, Tunisia, Croatia, United Nations Population Fund, United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees, Rwanda, Iran, Lebanon, Angola, Oman, Yemen, United Republic of Tanzania, Italy, Libya, Holy See, and South Sudan.
Also speaking were Cairo Institute for Human Rights Studies; Article 19 - International Centre Against Censorship; Association for Women's Rights in Development; Maat for Peace, Development and Human Rights Association; Human Rights Watch; Amnesty International; International Service for Human Rights; Réseau Unité pour le Développement de Mauritanie; Christian Solidarity Worldwide; International Federation for Human Rights Leagues; Legal Action Worldwide; Elizka Relief Foundation; Geneva Institute for Human Rights; Alliance internationale pour la défense des droits et des libertés; Institut International pour les Droits et le Développement; Africa Culture Internationale; Partners For Transparency; Interfaith International; African Centre for Democracy and Human Rights Studies; Al Gora Community Development Association; Rencontre Africaine pour la defense des droits de l'homme; Forum for Development and Human Rights Dialogue; and Association Ma'onah for Human Rights and Immigration.
The webcast of Human Rights Council meetings can be found here. All meeting summaries can be found here.
The official dates of the sixty-first regular session of the Human Rights Council are yet to be announced; they will be announced later on the Council’s website.
Resolution
In a resolution (A/HRC/S-38/L.1) on the Human rights situation in and around El Fasher, in the context of the ongoing conflict in the Sudan, adopted without a vote, the Council strongly condemns the escalating violence and reported atrocities committed by the Rapid Support Forces and their associated and allied forces in and around El Fasher, following their assault on the city, including large-scale atrocities such as ethnically motivated killings, torture, summary executions, forced recruitment, and arbitrary detention of civilians, as well as widespread use of rape and other forms of sexual and gender-based violence as a weapon of warfare; requests the [independent international fact-finding mission for the Sudan] fact-finding mission to conduct, consistent with its mandate, an urgent inquiry into the recent violations and abuses of international human rights law and violations of international humanitarian law allegedly committed in and around El Fasher; also requests the fact-finding mission to identify, where possible, all those for whom there are reasonable grounds to believe that they are responsible for alleged violations and abuses of international human rights law in and around El Fasher and to support efforts to ensure that the perpetrators of alleged abuses and violations are held accountable; and requests the Office of the High Commissioner for Human Rights to present an oral update to the Council on the human rights situation in El Fasher, followed by an interactive dialogue, before its sixty-first session, and requests the Fact-Finding Mission to present a report on the findings of its inquiry to the Council at its sixty-first session, followed by an enhanced interactive dialogue to be combined with the dialogue with the High Commissioner, and the Designated Expert on Human Rights in the Sudan, requested in Council Resolution 57/2.
Keynote Statements
VOLKER TÜRK, United Nations High Commissioner for Human Rights, said the atrocities that were unfolding in El Fasher were foreseen and preventable – but they were not prevented. They constituted the gravest of crimes. Mr. Türk said his Office had issued more than 20 statements on El Fasher alone over the past year, based on information it had verified. It warned repeatedly about the strangulating, suffocating siege, under which people were reduced to eating animal feed and peanut shells. It warned about the spread of famine, as people starved to death. And it warned that the fall of the city to the Rapid Support Forces would result in a bloodbath.
Thus, it was not surprised by reports that since the Rapid Support Forces took control of El Fasher, there had been mass killings of civilians; ethnically targeted executions; sexual violence, including gang rape; abductions for ransom; widespread arbitrary detentions; attacks on health facilities, medical staff and humanitarian workers; and other appalling atrocities. This was a pattern that it had documented time and again in this conflict. But its wake-up calls were not heeded. Bloodstains on the ground in El Fasher had been photographed from space. The stain on the record of the international community was less visible, but no less damning.
Mr. Türk thanked the Member States that convened today’s special session. The international community had a clear duty to act. There had been too much pretence and performance, and too little action. It needed to stand up against these atrocities – a display of naked cruelty used to subjugate and control an entire population. It needed to take action to prevent continued large-scale human rights violations, often ethnically motivated, in Darfur and beyond. And it needed to ensure that civilians from El Fasher and the surrounding areas had access to the humanitarian aid and protection they so desperately needed.
Concretely, that meant several things needed to happen. First, all States with influence needed to take urgent, concrete action to ensure the protection of civilians in El Fasher and safe passage for those trying to leave. States needed to press for the unimpeded flow of aid, and fund humanitarian programmes fully.
Second, States needed to make a concerted effort to hold to account all those responsible for violations of international humanitarian law and human rights law in this conflict. Mr. Türk said his staff were gathering evidence of violations that could be used in legal proceedings. The Office had deployed several missions to areas where civilians were fleeing, and was sending more. The International Criminal Court had indicated that it was following the situation closely. All those involved in this conflict needed to know that they were being watched, and that justice would prevail.
Third, the international community needed to take action against the individuals and companies that were fuelling and profiting from this war. Sudan was caught up in a proxy battle for its natural resources and commodities. Numerous countries in the region and beyond were involved.
Fourth, Mr. Türk urged everyone with influence to stand up for international law. That meant advocating for an urgent referral by the Security Council of the situation in the entire country to the International Criminal Court. It also meant making the arms embargo a reality, not only in Darfur, but across the whole country.
Sudan was built on the diversity of its people. The war was setting regions and communities against each other, ripping apart the social fabric, with consequences that would reach down generations. Mr. Türk implored all parties to the conflict to put their country and its people first, and to engage in meaningful peace negotiations, a humanitarian truce, and a transition to inclusive civilian rule. He urged them to fulfil their obligations under international law to ensure the protection of civilians and the passage of humanitarian aid.
In closing, Mr. Türk issued a stark warning about surging violence in Kordofan. All the signs were there: bombardments; blockades; people forced from their homes; a despicable disregard for civilian lives. He called for Kordofan to not suffer the same fate as Darfur. The world needed to prevent the shredding of international law before its eyes. The suffering of the Sudanese people needed to end.
ADAMA DIENG, Special Envoy of the African Union on the Prevention of Genocide and Mass Atrocities, in a joint statement also on behalf of CHALOKA BEYANI, United Nations Special Advisor for the Prevention of Genocide, said today, the African Union and the United Nations stood united, bound by a longstanding partnership and a solemn duty to protect vulnerable populations from the scourge of violence and impunity. This was a humanitarian and human rights catastrophe unfolding before the world’s eyes.
The situation in Sudan, particularly in El Fasher, the wider Darfur and Kordofan regions, had reached a critical and tragic juncture. Since the outbreak of conflict between the Sudan Armed Forces and the Rapid Support Forces in April 2023, the civilian population had endured unimaginable suffering. Over 14 million people had been forcibly displaced, more than 40,000 killed, and countless others subjected to summary executions, mass killings, abductions, torture, rape, and attacks on humanitarian workers.
Amid the rising tide of hate speech and ethnically driven violence and reprisals, it was feared that the darkest chapters of this conflict had yet to unfold. Survivors from Zamzam camp, south of El Fasher, had recounted being placed under siege-like conditions. One humanitarian worker had stated that combatants wanted to kill the population, saying that this was the crime against humanity…of extermination.
The deliberate starvation of civilians as a method of warfare, as seen in the besieged cities of El Fasher and Kadugli, was expressly forbidden under article 54 of Additional Protocol I to the Geneva Conventions. The African Union Peace and the Security Council unequivocally condemned these atrocities, demanded an immediate ceasefire, and called for unrestricted humanitarian access.
The Human Rights Council was standing with the people of El Fasher, who had suffered enough since May 2024 under siege by the paramilitary Rapid Support Forces, during which time they had been denied access to food and other social basic needs, which was against African Union values and international human rights and international humanitarian law.
The United Nations Office on Genocide Prevention had warned that the systematic targeting of non-Arab communities, specifically the Fur, Zaghawa and Masalit in Darfur, by mass killings and sexual violence, including rape; by obstruction of humanitarian aid, thus creating conditions intended to cause deaths; and by destruction of homes, farms, health facilities, water points and other livelihoods, constituted strong indicators of deliberate intention to inflict conditions of life on these groups calculated to bring about their physical destruction in whole or in part. Indeed, the risk of genocide existed in Sudan. It was real and it was growing, every single day.
The international community needed to go beyond condemnation. The African Union called upon the international community to redouble efforts to silence the guns in Sudan through inclusive dialogue and robust diplomatic engagement, in line with the African Union’s “Silencing the Guns” initiative and the United Nations Charter. It demanded an immediate end to the flow of weapons and fighters into Sudan, which was further, and very directly, contributing to the systematic targeting of specific identity groups and to the already desperate situation in the country.
Further, the African Union called on the international community to ensure justice and accountability for all violations, addressing impunity at every level; protect civilians and uphold humanitarian law, prioritising access to life-saving aid and the restoration of basic services; support civil society and independent media, whose voices were essential for transparency, early warning, and prevention; and address the root causes of conflict, including discrimination, exclusion and economic deprivation, through inclusive governance and sustainable development.
The African Union urged all Member States, regional organizations, and international actors to act decisively and collectively. The world must not stand by as atrocities unfolded. Silence and inaction were complicity. This session needed to mark a turning point — a rallying call for shared humanity and duty. The people of Sudan deserved nothing less than the world’s unwavering commitment to peace, dignity and justice.
SURYA DEVA, Chair of the Coordination Committee of the Special Procedures of the Human Rights Council, said that since the beginning of the conflict, the Special Procedures had raised the alarm through multiple communications and press releases, warning of widespread atrocities, massive displacement and the catastrophic impact on civilians.
For more than two years, the Sudanese people had endured the devastating consequences of a conflict marked by unrelenting violence, lawlessness and disregard for international human rights and humanitarian law. The Committee had received deeply disturbing reports of mass killings, summary executions, sexual violence, forced displacement, abductions, recruitment and use of children, destruction of vital infrastructure and attacks on humanitarian workers.
After 540 days of siege, the city of El Fasher fell to the Rapid Support Forces on 23 October, marking a new and horrific chapter in this tragedy. Reports indicated widespread atrocities during and after the takeover, including ethnically targeted killings of civilians and the use of gender-based violence against women and girls. Women had been raped in front of their relatives and detained for days in conditions amounting to torture. When the Rapid Support Forces entered shelters for displaced persons near El Fasher University, they reportedly selected women and girls at gunpoint, gang-raped at least 25 of them, and forced over 100 displaced families to flee amid gunfire.
The Coordination Committee was horrified by the scale and brutality of sexual violence being used as a deliberate strategy of domination and humiliation aimed at destroying communities. It was also deeply concerned by reports of ethnically motivated summary executions of civilians in El Fasher and by the confirmation of famine in El Fasher and Kadugli, which would worsen the already catastrophic humanitarian situation.
Sudan was now the epicentre of the largest displacement crisis in the world, with more than 12 million people forced from their homes – including 8.6 million internally displaced persons and over three million refugees in neighbouring countries. Camps for displaced people had been repeatedly attacked, resulting in the killing of hundreds of civilians. Internally displaced persons were living in conditions that defied human dignity - often without shelter, healthcare or education.
This intensifying violence had far-reaching consequences beyond Sudan’s borders. It fuelled instability across the region and undermined prospects for peace, sustainable development and respect for human rights. The Coordination Committee joined the High Commissioner, the designated Expert and the Fact-Finding Mission on the Sudan in condemning all violations and abuses committed by the parties to the conflict. It also echoed the call in the recent press release issued by a group of mandate holders for an immediate cessation of hostilities, the protection of civilians, and unimpeded humanitarian access.
The Coordination Committee urged the international community to use all means available to end the bloodshed, ensure the protection of civilians, establish the whereabouts of those disappeared, and hold accountable those responsible for these crimes. Silence or inaction in the face of such atrocities would be an abdication of the global duty to uphold the rule of law and prevent further suffering. The Committee also urged the international community to ensure that warring parties respect the laws of war and safeguard the rights of civilians. No effort was to be spared to ensure humanitarian access.
The Coordination Committee and the broader system of Special Procedures stood ready to assist the Council, the High Commissioner and all relevant actors in monitoring and responding to the human rights implications of this crisis. At this critical juncture, the international community needed to reaffirm that the protection of human rights and respect for international law were the foundations of lasting peace. The Sudanese people deserved no less.
MONA RISHMAWI, Member of the Independent International Fact-Finding Mission for the Sudan, said much of El-Fasher was now a crime scene. Since it fell into the hands of the Rapid Support Forces, the Fact-Finding Mission had interviewed witnesses and collected evidence of unspeakable atrocities: deliberate killings, torture, rape, abductions for ransom, arbitrary detention and enforced disappearances, all at a mass scale. A comprehensive investigation was required to establish the full picture, but what was already known was devastating.
Rapid Support Forces had turned El-Fasher University into a killing ground after thousands of exhausted and starving civilians sought shelter there. Those fleeing the Saudi Hospital reported the summary execution of medical staff and civilians. Survivors described bodies piling in the streets and in trenches dug in and around the city. Their accounts were corroborated by verified digital evidence, reinforcing the scale and gravity of these crimes.
For eighteen months, El-Fasher had been under siege: its population bombarded and cut off from food, water, medicine and humanitarian relief. Despite repeated warnings of war crimes and crimes against humanity, the worst-case scenario had now materialised. Thousands of civilians remained missing, and only a few thousand had reached safety.
Some civilians who managed to escape had told the Fact-Finding Mission that they walked up to 60 kilometres without food or water to reach Tawila. At Rapid Support Forces checkpoints, women and men were subjected to invasive body searches, forced nudity and interrogation about their ethnicity and perceived affiliations. Their remaining belongings were looted. Verified videos showed hundreds of men encircled by Rapid Support Forces fighters, beaten, forced to chant degrading slogans, and accused of supporting rival groups. Some verified videos showed point-blank executions after the victims’ ethnicity or affiliation with Sudanese Armed Forces or allied Joint Forces were suspected.
Information gathered indicated that hundreds of women and girls were raped and gang-raped along escape routes, including in public, without fear of repercussions or accountability. In one verified video, a female Rapid Support Forces fighter was seen laughing and urging Rapid Support Forces fighters to rape women. The ethnic, political and gendered patterns were stark: men from specific ethnic groups were executed; women and children dominated those who were raped, abducted and displaced. These crimes were not hidden; they were filmed, circulated and even glorified. They mirrored violations investigated in other parts of Darfur and elsewhere, now perhaps on a larger and more brutal scale. The Fact-Finding Mission was currently investigating similar atrocities in Kordofan, where civilians were encircled, aid was blocked, and starvation was beginning to emerge - risking another El Fasher.
The horrors unfolding in El-Fasher could have been prevented, as they were the direct result of decades of impunity. They could, and must, be now stopped. Those who backed, financed and armed this machinery of brutality had the power - and the duty - to halt it. States with influence bore particular responsibility. The individuals and entities behind these crimes needed to face justice.
Two weeks ago, the Fact-Finding Mission presented its findings to the United Nations General Assembly and engaged with Member States, including on El-Fasher. It was encouraged by the recognition that independent investigations created the factual foundation for action, connecting victims’ suffering with broader mechanisms for peace and justice.
The Sudanese people had endured unimaginable suffering in this ongoing conflict. What they now needed - and what international law demanded - was an end to the bloodshed, immediate protection, and a credible path to justice.
NIEMAT AHMEDIB, President, Darfur Women Action Group, said she was horrified by the plight of people in El Fasher. In the last few days, the Rapid Support Forces had taken control of El Fasher, which had witnessed a massacre and unspeakable suffering of men, women and children. The world had seen the Rapid Support Forces killing people as they fled, and seen people shooting indiscriminately at masses. Children had been hanged from trees, screaming and asking for mercy, as Rapid Support Forces militia cheered and celebrated. Uncountable numbers of women and children had been raped. The Rapid Support Forces had gone from house to house, killing and torturing all those they found. In an attack on a hospital, the Rapid Support Forces killed around 450 innocent patients, along with medical staff. Many more had been trapped and prevented from fleeing.
The Rapid Support Forces were broadcasting murders across the Internet while cheering in celebration and bragging. They were preventing medical supplies and humanitarian aid from being delivered to conflict areas and surrounding displacement camps. They had violated international law and systematically uprooted the people of Darfur. They had emptied a camp in Janina of 400,000 people, and the Zamzam camp of 800,000.
The international community should not allow world leaders to condone or ignore genocide. The failure to hold the Rapid Support Forces to account had emboldened them. They were exerting their influence on the international community, asking to be included on negotiating tables. But they could not bring peace to Sudan. Those who murdered children, raped women, and killed patients in hospital beds could never bring peace and they did not deserve to be a part of any peaceful settlement in Sudan.
The Council needed to uphold its obligation to international law and to hold this malicious group accountable. The people of El Fasher refused to lose hope. The Council needed to take serious, effective action to restore dignity and the people’s confidence in international institutions.
Statement by the Country Concerned
HASSAN HAMID HASSAN, Permanent Representative of Sudan to the United Nations Office at Geneva, said since the beginning of the conflict, Sudan had been warning that it was wrong to equate the Sudanese Armed Forces with the Rapid Support Forces. The Rapid Support Forces had shown that it was a criminal, terrorist militia. Sudan had called in multiple United Nations fora for pressure on this militia and on the country supporting it, the United Arab Emirates. Where was the international community while this militia violated all international resolutions? It had engaged in a siege on El Fasher for more than one year, and the result was the atrocities that were being witnessed. Killings in El Fasher were based on ethnicity and race. How could this not be described as a genocide? Militias had targeted civilian infrastructure and civilians for two and a half years, including mosques and hospitals, where they had killed worshippers and patients. How could these not be defined as terrorist activities? How long would the international community wait before classifying this group as a terrorist entity?
Discussion
Speakers then took the floor, making statements that, among other things, expressed alarm at the catastrophic human rights and humanitarian situation unfolding in Sudan, especially in and around El Fasher and North Darfur. Despite repeated calls from the international community, Sudan was collapsing under protracted war, following more than 18 months of an inhuman siege marked by starvation, suffering and despair. One speaker said Sudan was facing the largest humanitarian crisis of the twenty-first century.
Many expressed shock and condemnation regarding reports and video footage of targeted and ethnically motivated killings, torture, shelling, starvation and gender-based violence carried out by the Rapid Support Forces in El Fasher in recent weeks, which they said could amount to war crimes and crimes against humanity. Many speakers condemned the attack on the Saudi Hospital, as well as attacks on other medical facilities and civilian infrastructure. They also condemned the blocking of water and humanitarian aid from civilians. One speaker said that the human rights violations seen were the result of decades of impunity. Speakers said perpetrators of human rights violations needed to be held to account, expressing support for robust accountability mechanisms such as the Fact-Finding Mission and the International Criminal Court. The Fact-Finding Mission needed to be given unhindered access to the conflict areas.
Some speakers said the atrocities were being fuelled by third party countries that financed and provided arms to the Rapid Support Forces, including the United Arab Emirates. They said that there needed to be an immediate halt to arms supply to the Rapid Support Forces. One speaker said that there was a clear link between zones controlled by the Rapid Support Forces and resource-rich areas, especially gold mines vital to the United Arab Emirates. Billions of dollars in gold had been smuggled from Sudan into the United Arab Emirates, they said.
Another speaker said that the Sudanese Armed Forces was continuing indiscriminate attacks on markets, villages and hospitals amid the famine, while ignoring international calls for a truce, prolonging the conflict and weaponizing humanitarian access. The speaker said the Sudanese Armed Forces had harboured terrorists and sheltered individuals indicted in genocide and needed to be held to account.
Some speakers expressed concern regarding the situation of women and girls in and around El Fasher, who were trapped between frontlines, faced with starvation and forced marriage, and targeted by sexual and gender-based violence. Rape was systematically being used as a weapon of war. The situation of women and girls was exacerbated by the destruction of the last remaining maternity hospital in El Fasher. Women and children needed to be protected and have access to support services. The safe passage of those fleeing violence needed to be ensured. Support for local women aid workers needed to be scaled up and attacks on women-led organizations needed to end, one speaker said. Another speaker recalled efforts to support maternal health services in northern states and distribute reproductive health kits.
One speaker expressed concern that tens of thousands of families remained trapped in El Fasher. Children were being killed and injured, subjected to rape and forced recruitment. Many children had fled to overcrowded and under resourced displacement sites. There needed to be an urgent scale-up of humanitarian support for children, the speaker said.
A speaker expressed concern regarding human rights violations committed against journalists and media workers. At least 15 journalists had been killed since the start of the war and more than 90 per cent of media outlets had been forced to shut down. Propaganda from the Rapid Support Forces was now the main source of information on the conflict. The Fact-Finding Mission needed to consider how the information war had affected the people of Sudan.
Another speaker expressed concern that there was no safe way out of El Fasher, due to the presence of the Rapid Support Forces and criminal gangs on routes out of the city. Some speakers said that the international community should not lose sight of El Obeid and North Kordofan, which had reportedly been targeted by indiscriminate shelling and airstrikes continuing alongside rampant human rights violations. The international community needed to support the safe passage of civilians fleeing conflict.
Several speakers called for immediate, unfettered humanitarian access to El Fasher and for the protection of humanitarian workers. The international community needed to work to protect civilians, enhance support and humanitarian assistance to the Sudanese people, and support efforts toward sustainable peace and stability. Some speakers presented efforts to increase humanitarian aid to Sudan and neighbouring countries and support the protection of critical infrastructure and activities of humanitarian workers and civil society actors in Sudan.
Some speakers expressed concern regarding the destruction of places of worship, including mosques and churches, in the conflict. One speaker said that Catholic-run clinics, schools and community centres had been forced to close or were operating under extreme duress. Their staff faced daily threats and many had been displaced. The international community needed to assist those who were working tirelessly to provide relief to the suffering population.
Speakers said there could be no military solution to Sudan’s crisis. All actors needed to engage in dialogue and commit to a peaceful, inclusive political process. All parties needed to engage constructively in ceasefire negotiations. Some speakers condemned the establishment of a parallel government authority under the control of the Rapid Support Forces and called for the full implementation of the 2023 Jeddah Agreement and the African Union Roadmap for Peace. Some speakers expressed support for the Quad’s joint statement, which they said provided a roadmap to lasting peace. One speaker said that an independent government not controlled by either warring party needed to be established.
Speakers expressed solidarity with the Sudanese people. The war needed to come to an end immediately and the guns needed to be silenced. The world needed to pay attention; staying silent was not an option. The people of Sudan deserved peace, dignity and justice.
Some speakers said the United Nations needed to engage directly in the Sudanese crisis to achieve peace, in collaboration with the African Union. Some speakers supported the convening of the special session, the development of the resolution being presented, and the efforts of the Office of the High Commissioner for Human Rights, particularly the Fact-Finding Mission, to investigate all human rights violations. One speaker underscored the importance of complementarity and coordination among United Nations mechanisms in the context of the Organization’s liquidity crisis. Another called on States to provide increased resources to the United Nations, and to sanction those most responsible for atrocities. Some speakers said the Human Rights Council needed to support the resolution, which condemned the atrocities, demanded unfettered humanitarian access, and mandated an urgent inquiry by the Fact-Finding Mission.
Some speakers, however, condemned external interference in Sudan, which was counter to various United Nations resolutions and could aggravate tensions and further destabilise the region. They stressed the need to respect Sudan’s sovereignty, independence, territorial integrity and rich natural resources, and rejected solutions that did not enjoy the acceptance of the concerned country. Only through genuine dialogue could peace be obtained. Some speakers said that the special session had not been convened with the consent of Sudan, and that the pen holders had disregarded Sudan’s position. Sustainable peace in Sudan needed to be led by the Sudanese people.
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not an official record. English and French versions of our releases are different as they are the product of two separate coverage teams that work independently.
HRC25.017E