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International Organizations officially condemned the violations and humanitarian crimes between the Sudanese Armed Forces (SAF) and the Rapid Support Forces (RSF), which have continuously increased for more than 17 months.
The European Union (EU) praised the UN report, which details the extensive violations in Sudan, calling on the concerned parties to show their commitments.
During the meeting at the United Nations held on 10 September 2024 along with other international organizations in Geneva, the EU delegation stressed that serious human rights violations and massacre crimes have been committed in Sudan since the outbreak of fighting between the Sudanese Armed Forces, the Rapid Support Forces and allied armed groups, including killings on ethnic backgrounds, arbitrary arrests, torture, child recruitment, sexual and gender-based violence. Starvation was confirmed for the first time in the world seven years ago.
In this context, the United Nations issued a report in which it explained its fact-finding mission documenting extensive human rights violations and international crimes in Sudan.
The report was released by the Human Rights Council when it established the fact-finding mission in October 2023 which is derived from investigations implemented between January and August 2024. Those investigations included visits to Chad, Kenya and Uganda, as direct testimonies from 182 survivors, their family members and eyewitnesses, extensive consultations with experts and members of civil society, and confirmation and analysis of extra information provided to the mission.
The report, on 6 September 2024, affirms that conflict parties in Sudan have committed a terrible range of human rights violations and international crimes, many of which may amount to war crimes and crimes against humanity.
The report found out that the Sudanese Armed Forces (SAF), the Rapid Support Forces (RSF) and their allied forces were totally responsible for extensive shapes of abuses that included indiscriminate and direct attacks through airstrikes and bombings against civilians, schools, hospitals, communication networks, and vital water and electricity supply networks.
The report explained how conflicting parties have targeted civilians through rape and other forms of sexual violence, arbitrary custody and detention, torture and mistreatment. These violations can be classified as war crimes of attacks against persons and scandals upon personal dignity. some aggressive actions can be considered as crimes against humanity, including killing, torture, rape, forced displacement and persecution on ethnic backgrounds, according to the UN fact-finding mission report.
The independent human rights experts who led the work of the UN Independent International Fact-Finding Mission on Sudan – Mohamed Shendi Osman, head of the mission, Joy Ngozi Ezeilo, and Mona Rishmawi, the three confirmed that responsibility for the severe violations lies with both parties and their partners, all of which is classified as international crimes.
The head of the fact-finding mission, Mohamed Shendi Osman, called for weapons prohibition, in addition to preventing the delivery of supplies to all parts of Sudan, and he further stressed on the ending of violations in all their shapes against the Sudanese nation.
Human Rights Watch issued a report on September 9, 2024, confirming that both parties in the Sudan conflict had obtained modern foreign-made weapons and military equipment.
The report called on the Security Council to renew and expand the prohibition against arms embargo in all areas in Sudan, in addition to the necessity of holding those responsible sides.
According to the report, it is mentioned that the new equipments include armed drones, drone jamming devices, anti-tank guided missiles, truck-mounted multiple rocket launchers, and mortar rounds, produced by companies registered in China, Iran, Russia, and Serbia.
However, Human Rights Watch did not determine how the fighting parties obtained the new equipment, it noted that the conflict in Sudan is one of the world’s worst humanitarian and human rights crises ever.
Jean-Baptiste Galpin, senior crisis and conflict researcher at Human Rights Watch, called the conflict in Sudan as one of the worst humanitarian and human rights crises in the world, with fighting parties committing killings without punishment. Galpin added that recently acquired weapons and equipment are likely to be used to commit further crimes.
As reported on July 25, 2024, Amnesty International called on the United Nations to expand the prohibition of weapons in Darfur to include all of Sudan, considering that the continued flow of weapons is powering the conflict in the country.
Sudan is experiencing a situation of conflict between the Sudanese Armed Forces and the Rapid Support Forces and affiliated militias, which has spread to 14 out of 18 states, affecting the entire country, killing and injuring tens of thousands of civilians, and internally displaced 8 million Sudanese because of the ongoing conflict, as 2 million people were forced to evacuate to neighboring countries.
Same Justice Human Rights confirms that the violations against civilians are all considered a war crime, and these actions violate international humanitarian law. Same Justice calls on the concerned international organizations to take immediate measures to end the fighting between the conflicting parties, for the sake of finding a permanent solution.
Same Justice Human Rights emphasizes on the need to block the influx of weapons into Sudan, hold perpetrators of violations accountable, demanding the protection of civilians away from killing or forced displacement, as well as all actions of violence in Sudan.
