The United Nations Office at Geneva
Multimedia Newsroom
Edited News | OHCHR , UNOG
UN Human Rights Spokesperson Seif Magango on the escalating violence in El Fasher, Sudan
“Reports indicate that both parties have launched indiscriminate attacks using explosive weapons with wide-area effects, such as mortar shells and rockets fired from fighter jets, in residential districts. At least 43 people, among them women and children, were killed as fighting was taking place between the SAF and RSF – backed by their respective allied militia – since 14 April, when the RSF began its push into El-Fasher,” said Magango, speaking from Nairobi.
“Civilians are trapped in the city, the only one in Darfur still in the hands of the SAF, afraid of being killed should they attempt to flee. This dire situation is compounded by a severe shortage of essential supplies as deliveries of commercial goods and humanitarian aid have been heavily constrained by the fighting, and delivery trucks are unable to freely transit through RSF-controlled territory,” he said.
Since early April, the RSF has conducted several large-scale attacks on the villages in western El-Fasher mostly inhabited by the African Zaghawa ethnic community. RSF has burned down some of the villages, including Durma, Umoshosh, Sarafaya, and Ozbani. Such attacks raise the spectre of further ethnically motivated violence in Darfur, including mass killings. Last year fighting and attacks between the Rizeigat and the African Masalit in West Darfur left hundreds of civilians dead or injured, and thousands displaced from their homes.
“The High Commissioner calls for an immediate de-escalation of this catastrophic situation, an end to the conflict that has ravaged the country for more than a year now and investigation of all alleged violations and abuses of international human rights law and violations of international humanitarian law with a view to ensuring accountability and victims’ rights to truth, justice and reparations. He also urges both parties to the conflict and their allies to grant civilians safe passage to other areas, ensure the protection of civilians and civilian objects, and facilitate safe and unhindered humanitarian access,” Magango said.
ENDS
In Geneva:
Jeremy Laurence - + 41 22 917 9383 / jeremy.laurence@un.org
In Nairobi:
Seif Magango - + 254 788 343 897/ seif.magango@un.org
Tag and share - Twitter: @UNHumanRights and Facebook: unitednationshumanrights
STORY: UN Human Rights Spokesperson Seif Magango on the escalating violence in El-Fasher, Sudan
TRT: 01:57
SOURCE: UNTV/OHCHR
RESTRICTIONS: NONE
LANGUAGE: English/NATS
ASPECT RATIO: 16:9
DATELINE: 26 April 2024 GENEVA, SWITZERLAND
SHOTLIST
1. Exterior shot : Palais des Nations
2. Wide shot : Briefing room
3. SOUNDBITE (English)—Seif Magango, Spokesperson for the Office of the UN High Commissioner for Human Rights (OHCHR): “Reports indicate that both parties have launched indiscriminate attacks using explosive weapons with wide-area effects, such as mortar shells and rockets fired from fighter jets, in residential districts. At least 43 people, among them women and children, were killed as fighting was taking place between the SAF and RSF – backed by their respective allied militia – since 14 April, when the RSF began its push into El-Fasher.”
4. Cut away: Briefing room.
5. SOUNDBITE (English)—Seif Magango, Spokesperson for the Office of the UN High Commissioner for Human Rights (OHCHR): “Civilians are trapped in the city, the only one in Darfur still in the hands of the SAF, afraid of being killed should they attempt to flee. This dire situation is compounded by a severe shortage of essential supplies as deliveries of commercial goods and humanitarian aid have been heavily constrained by the fighting, and delivery trucks are unable to freely transit through RSF-controlled territory.”
6. Cut away: Briefing room.
7. SOUNDBITE (English)—Seif Magango, Spokesperson for the Office of the UN High Commissioner for Human Rights (OHCHR): “The High Commissioner calls for an immediate de-escalation of this catastrophic situation, an end to the conflict that has ravaged the country for more than a year now and investigation of all alleged violations and abuses of international human rights law and violations of international humanitarian law with a view to ensuring accountability and victims’ rights to truth, justice and reparations. He also urges both parties to the conflict and their allies to grant civilians safe passage to other areas, ensure the protection of civilians and civilian objects, and facilitate safe and unhindered humanitarian access.”
8. Cut away: Briefing room.
Similar Stories
2
1
2
Press Conferences , Edited News | HRC , OHCHR
Human Rights Council (HRC) - Independent International Fact-Finding Mission on the Islamic Republic of Iran launches its latest report.
2
1
1
Press Conferences , Edited News | HRC
Senior human rights investigators reporting to the Human Rights Council alleged on Thursday that sexual and gender-based violence by Israeli security forces against Palestinian men, women and children have been increasingly used “as a method of war” following the 7 October 2023 attacks that sparked the Gaza war.
1
1
1
Edited News | UNICEF
Bangladesh: Humanitarians describe ‘extreme desperation’ as aid cuts deepen Rohingya children’s suffering
In Bangladesh’s Cox’s Bazar refugee settlements, child malnutrition has surged and cuts in aid funding risk creating a humanitarian “catastrophe”, the UN Children’s Fund (UNICEF) warned on Tuesday.
1
1
1
Edited News | OHCHR , UNOG
The UN Human Rights Office on Tuesday gave an update on the situation in Syria’s coastal region as reports continue to emerge of the distressing scale of violence there since 6 March.
1
1
1
Edited News | UNHCR
The aid response in Burundi to the crisis in neighbouring Democratic Republic of the Congo (DRC) “is literally buckling”, the UN refugee agency, UNHCR, warned on Friday, as it relayed dramatic testimonies from people forced to flee the unchecked advance of Rwanda-backed M23 rebels.
1
1
1
Edited News | UNHCR
Close to 80,000 have fled DR Congo amid fighting, sexual violence: UNHCR
In the eastern Democratic Republic of the Congo (DRC), insecurity and horrific sexual violence have pushed tens of thousands to flee across borders with no sign of the exodus stopping, the UN refugee agency (UNHCR) said on Tuesday.
1
1
1
Edited News | OHCHR , UNOG
UN Human Rights Chief Volker Türk on Monday delivered his global update to the Human Rights Council, highlighting key issues and trends, and the human rights situation in more than 30 countries.
1
1
1
Edited News | OHCHR
The UN Human Rights Chief Volker Türk told the Human Rights Council in Geneva that the human rights situation in Myanmar was among the worst in the world.
1
1
1
Edited News | UNICEF
Haiti: Massive surge in child armed group recruitment – UNICEF
The ongoing emergency in Haiti is crushing children’s chances of an education and a better future as scores of youngsters are recruited by heavily armed and violent gangs, the UN Children’s Fund (UNICEF) warned on Friday.
1
1
1
Edited News | OHCHR , UNOG
UN High Commissioner for Human Rights Volker Türk today called on UN member states to act with urgency towards a ceasefire and to ease the suffering of the Sudanese people.
1
1
1
Edited News | OHCHR , UNOG
“We are at an inflection point in the crisis in the Occupied Palestinian Territory,” the UN Human Rights Chief Volker Türk told the Human Rights Council in Geneva.
1
1
1
Edited News | HRC
Investigators tasked by the UN Human Rights Council to track alleged grave abuses of power by top Nicaraguan officials on Wednesday insisted that the International Court of Justice should prosecute what they called the systematic and systemic repression of the country’s people.