Geneva (UNA-UN) – The Sudanese people are facing one of the worst crises ever, exacerbated by impunity and authoritarian practices fueled by ethnic tensions and driven by narrow political and economic interests, said Nada Al-Nashif, Deputy High Commissioner for Human Rights. She called on the international community not to allow this situation to continue, stressing that “this tragedy must end now.”
In her speech at the interactive dialogue session on human rights in Sudan within the framework of the 57th regular session of the Human Rights Council in Geneva, Al-Nashif warned that after more than 16 months, “the conflict in Sudan continues to spiral out of control, and civilians bear the brunt of the hostilities.”
She added that the warring parties’ declarations of commitments to protect civilians remain hollow, as violations continue unabated. “Indiscriminate attacks and the use of weapons with wide-area effects in densely populated areas have resulted in thousands of civilian casualties and the destruction of vital infrastructure including hospitals, schools and markets, and the devastation of livelihoods,” Al-Nashif said.
She noted that the UN Human Rights Office documented more than 864 civilian deaths in attacks on residential areas across Sudan between June and August.
Al-Nashif warned that the Human Rights Office is “particularly disturbed by the use of sexual violence as a weapon of war since the beginning of the conflict,” as 97 incidents have been documented involving 172 victims, most of whom are women and girls, a number that is lower than the actual situation.
It explained that responsibility for 81 percent of the incidents was attributed to men in Rapid Support Forces uniforms and armed men affiliated with them, in addition to receiving credible reports of sexual violence attributed to the Sudanese Armed Forces and allied armed movements.
Al-Nashif again urged the parties to issue and implement strict command orders to prohibit and punish sexual violence, and to take other effective steps to prevent it.
The UN official also expressed deep concern about ethnically motivated attacks and hate speech.
She noted that the office had documented multiple accounts of summary executions, sexual violence and forced displacement committed by the Rapid Support Forces and allied Arab militias, particularly targeting the Masalit tribe in West Darfur.
She also reported that civilian mobilization, including children, has intensified across Sudan, particularly along tribal lines, “which poses the risk of a wider civil war with other ethnic dimensions.”
She noted the continued arbitrary detention by both parties to the conflict and allied armed movements, with an increase in arrests by military intelligence and the imposition of death sentences, allegedly in support of the Rapid Support Forces, often based on real or perceived tribal identity, as well as unlawful detention, often based on ethnicity, by the Rapid Support Forces in Darfur.
Al-Nashif also stressed that “this absurd conflict has a devastating impact on economic and social rights, especially the right to food, housing and education.”
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