Sudan govt welcomes UN rights agency's condemnation of attacks on civilians by rival RSF
Port Sudan, Sudan (PANA) - Sudan on Saturday commended the United Nations High Commissioner on Human Rights for condemning the brutal killing of civilians in Darfur last week.
A statement issued by the ministry of foreign affairs welcomed a statement issued by the spokesperson for the High Commissioner for Human Rights, which condemned the attacks by the paramilitary Rapid Support Forces (RSF) on the besieged city of Al-Fashir and the violations committed in the Abu Shouk camp for displaced persons.
“The Ministry appreciates the position expressed in the UNCHR statement, which strongly rejected and condemned the ethnic cleansing and serious violations of international humanitarian law committed by the (RSF) militia,” the statement carried by the official sudan News Agency said.
Sudan reiterated its call on the United Nations and its relevant bodies to move beyond “mere condemnation and denunciation” to “urgent and effective measures” against RSF, ensuring its implementation of Security Council Resolution 2736 and the “immediate lifting of the unjust siege on El Fasher”.
It also called on the UN to designate the RSF a terrorist group under international law, to ensure the protection of civilians and halt the repeated violations against the city's residents and displaced persons camps.
The UN High Commissioner for Human Rights, Volker Türk, in a statement said that the attacks by RSF on Al-Fashir and the adjacent Abu Shouk camp for internally displaced persons in North Darfur resulted in the deaths of at least 89 civilians in the ten days leading up to 20 August.
Both sides in Sudan's bloody war - Sudanese Armed Forces and RSF - have been accused of being responsible for "a widespread pattern of arbitrary detention, torture and ill-treatment of detainees". Many efforts by the UN, governments and regional bodies to end the fighting between the former allies in government have failed.
The UN Independent International Fact-Finding Mission for the Sudan has found that both sides have used "rape and other forms of sexual violence, arbitrary arrest and detention, as well as torture and ill-treatment".
The fighting has sparked one of the world's worst humanitarian crises - 12 million people have been forced from their homes and famine has been declared in parts of the country. Tens of thousands of people have been killed and infrastructure destroyed in the war between the former allies.
The UN World Food Programme (WFP) has described Sudan as “the world’s largest hunger crisis”. Famine has spread to additional areas and could spread even more in coming months, it has warned.
An international coalition that groups five governments, the United Nations and the African Union last Wednesday urged the warring parties in the East African country to allow humanitarian aid passage and respect human rights.
The Aligned for Advancing Lifesaving and Peace (ALPS), which brings together the Governments of Egypt, Saudi Arabia, Switzerland, the United Arab Emirates, the United States of America, and the AU and UN said it was "appalled by the continuous deterioration of the humanitarian situation in Sudan".
It referred particularly to the growing number of people in situations of severe malnutrition and famine, and by the wide range of access impediments that are delaying or blocking the response in key areas.
ALPS expressed regret that Sudanese civilians continued to pay the highest price for the war.
The coalition added in a joint statement published by the US Department of the State that with the situation in Sudan worsening and humanitarian needs reaching critical levels, urgent action is needed by the conflict parties to protect civilians and allow and facilitate humanitarian access to those in need.
This is in line with their obligations under international humanitarian law, and their commitments under the Jeddah Declaration of Commitment to Protect the Civilians of Sudan, signed in May 2023.
In this regard, the ALPS coalition called on the warring parties to lift all bureaucratic impediments impinging on and preventing humanitarian activities and commit to maintain key supply routes open for humanitarian convoys and personnel, including through humanitarian pauses and other arrangements as needed.
It added that they should see to it that telecommunications access are restored in all areas and ensure the protection of critical civilian infrastructure, in particular energy, water and health infrastructure.
-0- PANA MO/MA 24Aug2025
