Sudan: UN Fact-Finding Mission outlines extensive human rights violations, international crimes, urges protection of civilians

GENEVA – Sudan’s warring parties have committed an appalling range of harrowing human rights violations and international crimes, including many which may amount to war crimes and crimes against humanity, the UN’s Independent International Fact-Finding Mission for the Sudan said in its first report today.

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 warring parties 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. These violations may amount to war crimes related to violence to life and person and committing outrages upon personal dignity, the report found.

“The gravity of these findings underscores the urgent and immediate action to protect civilians,” said Mohamed Chande Othman, Chair of the Fact-Finding 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,” Othman said. “The protection of the civilian population is paramount, and all parties must comply with their obligations under international law and immediately and unconditionally cease all attacks on the civilian population.”

The report also found reasonable grounds to believe that RSF and its allied militias committed the additional war crimes of rape, sexual slavery, and pillage, as well as ordering the displacement of the civilian population and the recruitment of children below 15 in hostilities. Horrific assaults carried by the RSF and its allies against non-Arab communities – in particular the Masalit in and around El Geneina, West Darfur – included killings, torture, rape and other forms of sexual violence, destruction of property and pillage.

There are also reasonable grounds to believe that acts committed by the RSF and its allied militias amount to numerous crimes against humanity, including murder, torture, enslavement, rape, sexual slavery, other sexual violence of comparable gravity, persecution on the basis of ethnic and gender targeting, and forcible displacement.

The conflict, which has spread to 14 of the 18 states in Sudan, has killed and wounded tens of thousands of civilians, displaced nearly 8 million people and forced two million more to flee to neighboring countries. The warring parties have exacerbated the crisis by obstructing humanitarian access, the report said.

“The people of the Sudan have suffered unimaginable tragedy,” said Expert Member Joy Ngozi Ezeilo. “A sustainable ceasefire must be prioritized to halt the fighting in which the civilian population is caught and enable the effective delivery of badly needed humanitarian assistance to all those in need, regardless of their location.”

The report – mandated by the Human Rights Council when it established the Fact-Finding Mission in October 2023 – was drawn from investigations conducted between January and August 2024. These included visits to Chad, Kenya, and Uganda, first-hand testimony from 182 survivors, family members and eyewitnesses, extensive consultations with experts and civil society members, and the corroboration and analysis of additional information provided to the Mission.

The report recommended expanding the existing arms embargo in Darfur pursuant to Security Council Resolution 1556 (2004) and subsequent resolutions, to all Sudan to stem the supply of weapons, ammunition, and other logistical or financial support to the warring parties and prevent further escalation. Those supplying arms, the report warned, may be complicit in grave violations of human rights and humanitarian law.

Sudanese authorities should cooperate fully with the International Criminal Court (ICC), and surrender all indicted persons, including former President Al Bashir, the report said. The ICC’s jurisdiction stemming from Security Council resolution 1593 (2005) concerning the situation in Darfur should also be expanded to cover the entire territory of Sudan.

Because efforts by Sudanese authorities to investigate and prosecute those responsible for international crimes have been marred by a lack of willingness characterized by selective justice and a lack of impartiality, bringing accountability to victims will be profoundly challenging.

The report also called for the establishment of a separate international judicial mechanism working in tandem and complementary to the ICC.

“These findings should serve as a wake-up call to the international community to take decisive action to support survivors, their families and affected communities, and hold perpetrators accountable,” said Expert Member Mona Rishmawi. “A comprehensive approach to transitional justice is vital for addressing the root causes of the conflict and ensuring accountability.”

Applauding the various efforts undertaken to bring the parties to the negotiating table, Othman said “the people of Sudan deserve a future marked by peace, prosperity, and respect for human rights.”

“The international community must support the Sudanese aspiration for an inclusive and representative civilian government that respects the rights of all citizens,” Othman said. ”This support is essential for fostering a path toward equality, justice, and sustainable peace in Sudan.”

ENDS

Background: The Human Rights Council established the Fact-Finding Mission in October, through resolution A/HRC/RES/54/2. In December 2023, the President of the Human Rights Council appointed Mohamed Chande Othman, as the Chair of the Fact-Finding Mission and Joy Ngozi Ezeilo and Mona Rishmawi as Members. The Secretariat of the Fact-Finding Mission is based in the UN Office at Nairobi, Kenya. The mandate of the Fact-Finding Mission is, inter alia, “to investigate and establish the facts, circumstances and root causes of all alleged human rights violations and abuses and violations of international humanitarian law, including those committed against refugees, and related crimes in the context of the ongoing armed conflict that began on 15 April 2023, between the Sudanese Armed Forces and the Rapid Support Forces, as well as other warring parties.” The Mission, which was established for an initial duration of one year, was further requested to collect and analyse evidence in view of any future legal proceedings; to identify, where possible, individuals and entities responsible; and to make recommendations with a view to ending impunity and ensuring accountability and access to justice for victims.

More information on the work of the Fact-Finding Mission on Sudan can be found here.

For media queries, please contact: Todd Pitman, Media Adviser - Investigative Missions, todd.pitman@un.org / (+41) 76 691 1761 or Pascal Sim, Human Rights Council Media Officer, at simp@un.org.