Jurist Top UN rights body orders investigation into Sudan atrocities amid ongoing violence

[Dadparvar]

The United Nations’ top human rights body on Friday adopted a resolution ordering an urgent and independent fact-finding mission into allegations of human rights violations and other atrocities in the Sudanese city of El Fasher, where the paramilitary Rapid Support Forces (RSF) have reportedly committed 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 Human Rights Council (HRC) held a special session on Friday to discuss the human rights situation in and around El Fasher, which has emerged as the central locus of the ongoing crisis. Located in Western Sudan, the city was the last remaining Sudanese stronghold in North Darfur before the RSF overran the army troops last month to seize it. Since then, reports have emerged documenting concrete evidence of mass killings by RSF rebels at a hospital in El Fasher, and along the city’s periphery.

Draft Resolution A/HRC/S-38/L.1 (as orally revised) on the human rights situation in and around El Fasher was adopted by the Council without a vote during Friday’s session in Geneva, Switzerland.

This was the 38th special session of the council, which opened with a series of keynote addresses, including remarks by UN High Commissioner for Human Rights Volker Türk. The high commissioner warned that the atrocities unfolding in El Fasher were “foreseen and preventable – but they were not prevented.” He called upon all actors with influence to act without delay to halt the violence and move beyond mere expressions of concern to take urgent, concrete action to protect civilians in El Fasher.

None of us should be surprised by reports that since the RSF took control of El Fasher, there have been mass killings of civilians; ethnically targeted executions; sexual violence including gang rape; abductions for ransom, and other appalling atrocities. This is a pattern that we have documented time and again in this conflict. But our wake-up calls were not heeded … and the stain on the record of the international community is less visible, but no less damaging.

Following Türk’s address, the council heard from Adama Dieng, the special envoy of the African Union (AU) on the prevention of genocide and mass atrocities, who called on the international community to halt the flow of weapons and fighters into Sudan. Dieng asserted that this was very directly contributing to the systematic targeting of specific, isolated groups, as well as, on a larger scale, exacerbating the already desperate situation in the country. Dieng maintained that this session needed to “mark a turning point,” calling upon the shared humanity and sense of duty of the council’s member states, and the international community at large.

The newly mandated fact-finding mission is expected to investigate alleged violations by all involved parties, identify those responsible, as well as collect and preserve evidence for future legal proceedings. The mission will also examine patterns of ethnically targeted attacks and assess risks of further mass atrocities, with several delegations underscoring that, given the scale of violence witnessed in El Fasher, the mission’s rapid deployment will be critical.

As the situation in El Fasher continues to deteriorate, the council’s resolution marks one of the more critical international responses to date. However, whether the fact-finding mission will be able to operate effectively and spur meaningful action is equally dependent on sustained cooperation, access, and genuine political will.

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