The United Nations Human Rights Council on Friday (14 November) ordered a fact-finding mission to immediately investigate alleged violations of international law committed in El-Fasher, Sudan. The mission was assigned“identification, whenever possible”suspected perpetrators to ensure that they “answer for their actions” before the court.
At the opening of an extraordinary session called by the UK, along with Germany, Ireland, the Netherlands and Norway, the UN High Commissioner for Human Rights condemned the inaction of the international community and warned perpetrators of violations that they must be held to account.
“Traces of blood on the ground in El-Fasher photographed from space”recalled Volker Türk, predicting just that “a stain on the international community’s record is less visible, but no less damaging”. “My team is collecting evidence of violations that can be used in the legal process (…) The International Criminal Court has indicated that it is monitoring the situation closely »continued Mr. Türk, warning: “Everyone involved in this conflict should know: we are watching you and justice will be served. »
After eighteen months of siege, the paramilitary Rapid Support Forces (FSR), which has been fighting against the regular Sudanese army since April 2023, on October 26 took control of El-Fasher, a town located in Darfur, a region in western Sudan that was already stained with blood in the 2000s. Since then, survivors have described massacres, ethnic violence, kidnappings, rape and sexual violence. The UN, like humanitarian organizations, made these accusations which it rejected “slander” by FSR officials requested by Agence France-Presse.
“Risk of genocide”
The text regarding the fact-finding mission was adopted by consensus, although some countries, including Sudan, distanced themselves from paragraphs expanding the scope of the investigation. The UN estimates nearly 100,000 people have left El-Fasher in the past two weeks, many seeking refuge in Tawila, about 50 kilometers to the west.
Listen too Sudan: “the world’s worst humanitarian crisis”
“They told of the unimaginable horrors experienced before and during their flight”The UN High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR) reported on Friday, reporting kidnappings for ransom, theft, forced recruitment and sexual abuse. “Hundreds of women and girls were raped (…) along escape routes, including in public, without fear of reprisal or prosecution”said Mona Rishmawi, of the UN’s independent fact-finding mission in Sudan, during Friday’s session.
Adama Dieng, the African Union special envoy and UN special adviser on genocide prevention, warned that “The risk of genocide exists in Sudan, it is real and continues to increase every day”. Sudan’s ambassador, Hassan Hamid Hassan, also condemned the United Arab Emirates, which the army accused of supporting the RSF militarily and logistically.
Jamal Jama Al Musharakh, the UAE ambassador – who denies any support to the RSF – criticized both warring sides on Friday, and specifically accused the army of doing the same.“indiscriminate attacks on markets, villages and hospitals, amidst famine, and ignoring international calls for a ceasefire”.
The draft resolution was examined on Friday “condemns all forms of external interference that trigger conflict”.
Sudan has been bloodied for two and a half years due to a power struggle between the army of General Abdel Fattah Al-Bourhane and his former deputy, Mohamed Hamdane Daglo, of the FSR. The fighting has left tens of thousands dead, forced 12 million people to flee and plunged the country into the world’s largest humanitarian crisis, according to the UN.
