Khartoum (Business Emerge), September 6: In a recent report, the United Nations has highlighted severe human rights abuses committed by both parties involved in Sudan’s ongoing civil war, suggesting these actions may constitute war crimes. The UN mission has called for the immediate deployment of peacekeeping forces and the extension of an existing arms embargo to ensure civilian safety.
The report, based on 182 interviews with survivors, witnesses, and their families, paints a grim picture of violence against civilians, torture, and arbitrary arrests by both the Sudanese military and the paramilitary group, the Rapid Support Forces (RSF). Mohamed Chande Othman, the head of the UN fact-finding mission, emphasized the seriousness of the findings, urging swift international intervention to protect Sudanese civilians. He stressed the need for an impartial peacekeeping force to be sent without further delay.
Both the Sudanese army and RSF have previously denied accusations of abuse and have instead accused each other of committing these violations. However, neither side has responded to the UN report as of Friday.
The UN mission’s recommendations include expanding the current arms embargo, which is only applied to the Darfur region, to cover the entire country. The conflict, which erupted in April of the previous year, has since engulfed 14 out of Sudan’s 18 states, worsening the humanitarian crisis.
The fact-finding team also revealed additional atrocities committed by the RSF and its allied militias, including sexual slavery and the recruitment of child soldiers. The report suggests these actions could also amount to war crimes.
Efforts by the mission to communicate with Sudanese authorities for a response were met with silence. The conflict, originally triggered by a power struggle between the Sudanese army and the RSF following their shared involvement in a coup, has left millions of civilians displaced, struggling with famine and disease after more than 17 months of fighting.
Although U.S.-led negotiations last month resulted in commitments from both factions to improve humanitarian aid access, the absence of the Sudanese army from these talks has slowed progress in delivering much-needed assistance.