UN Rights Council to hold special session on Sudan's El Fasher on 14 November
Geneva, Switzerland (PANA) - The United Nations Human Rights Council will hold a special session on the human rights situation in and around El Fasher, in the context of the ongoing conflict in the Sudan, on Friday, 14 November.
The special session is being convened per an official request submitted on 5 November by the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland, jointly with Germany, Ireland, Netherlands and Norway, which has been supported by 24 States members of the Council thus far, a press release by the UN Human Rights Council on Thursday said.
For a special session to be convened, the support of one-third of the 47 members of the Council – 16 or more – is required.
The press release said this request is thus far supported by 24 States members of the Council. The request is also supported by 31 observer States at the Council.
The list of signatories remains open up to the holding of the special session and the list of States is provisional, the Press statement said.
It added that in connection with this special session, the Council will convene an open-ended informative consultation before the special session on its conduct and organisation.
The Council previously held two special sessions on the Sudan on 5 November 2021 and on 11 May 2023.
Sudan’s civil war pits the Sudanese Armed Forces (SAF) against the Rapid Support Forces (RSF) – once allies who turned their weapons on each other in April 2023. Fighting has displaced more than ten million people, destroyed large parts of Khartoum and triggered one of the world’s worst humanitarian crises.
The UN Independent International Fact-Finding Mission for the Sudan said in March that both sides were responsible for "a widespread pattern of arbitrary detention, torture and ill-treatment of detainees".
It said the RSF and the army had used "rape and other forms of sexual violence, arbitrary arrest and detention, as well as torture and ill-treatment".
Following the capture of El-Fasher, the capital of North Darfur state, by the RSF after more than 500 days of siege, the paramilitary group is facing accusations of committing war crimes, crimes against humanity, and genocide.
The UN Special Adviser on genocide prevention has raised concerns over widespread allegations of war crimes committed in El Fasher last month, and plans to meet his African Union counterpart to discuss a coordinated response.
“We see massive violations of international human rights law, direct attacks on civilians, noncompliance with international humanitarian law, which regulates conduct in relation to hostilities, and that the attacks are largely on civilians,” said Chaloka Beyani, who recently took up his post as Special Adviser of the Secretary-General for the Prevention of Genocide.
The International Criminal Court (ICC) has also expressed “profound alarm and deepest concern” about the developments in El Fasher, and Darfur.
The ICC expressed alarm at reports emerging about mass killings, rapes, and other crimes allegedly committed during the course of attacks the RSF.
It said these atrocities are part of a broader pattern of violence that has affected the entire Darfur region since April 2023. Such acts, if substantiated, may constitute war crimes and crimes against humanity under the Rome Statute.
-0- PANA MA 7Nov2025
