Sudan’s war intensifies amid starvation, rights probe warns
Geneva, Switzerland (PANA) - Heavy fighting continues to escalate in Sudan as a “direct result” of the continued flow of arms into the country meaning that the war is far from over, top independent human rights investigators said on Tuesday, ahead of briefing the Human Rights Council.
In an update on the emergency in the northeast African nation, the Independent International Fact-Finding Mission for the Sudan highlighted the increased use of heavy weaponry in populated areas - and a sharp rise in sexual violence.
“Many Sudanese are dying from hunger and especially those who have been detained - they are dying and millions affected,” said Joy Ngozi Ezeilo, Expert Member of the Fact-Finding Mission.
“In terms of international responsibility, we urge all States to respect and enforce the arms embargo of the United Nations Security Council Resolution 1556," she added.
Humanitarian relief continues to be weaponised and hospitals and medical facilities remain under siege, warned the investigators, whose mandate was established by the Council in October 2023.
“There is a direct link between the flow of arms in Sudan, armed hostilities and the resulting violence amounting to violations of international humanitarian law and human rights violations,” said Mohamed Chande Othman, Chair of the Fact-Finding Mission.
“We know the kind of arms that are being used: heavy artillery, modern warfare, drones and in fact, they have escalated.”
Fellow investigator Mona Rishmawi insisted that testimonies gathered pointed to “both sides” continuing to commit war crimes – a reference to the Sudanese Armed Forces (SAF) and the Rapid Support Forces (RSF) which turned on each other in April 2023, following a breakdown in transition to civilian rule.
Around El Fasher, for instance, civilians have been “assaulted, detained and killed while villages have been attacked, burned and looted” by the RSF. During one RSF attack from 10 to 13 April, more than 100 civilians were reportedly killed, while a SAF bombing in Al Koma killed at least 15 civilians.
Now into its third year, the war has killed tens of thousands of civilians so far, displacing over 13 million Sudanese and subjecting many more to sexual violence, looting and the destruction of homes, health facilities, markets and other infrastructure.
Crimes against humanity continue, “particularly in the context of persecution of certain ethnic groups”, Ms. Rishmawi insisted.
The result of restrictions to aid relief has been to drive famine, “especially in Darfur”, said the investigators, who are respected human rights experts and not UN staff.
In their latest update to the Human Rights Council, the investigators documented a sharp rise in sexual and gender-based violence, with women and girls subjected to rape, gang rape, abduction, sexual slavery and forced marriage, mostly in RSF-controlled displacement camps
The members of both the Commission of Inquiry on the Occupied Palestinian Territory and the Fact-Finding Mission for the Sudan receive their mandates from the UN Human Rights Council.
They are not UN staff and do not receive payment for their work.
-0- PANA MA 18June2025
