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Volker Türk on Sudan-Human Rights Council 53rd Session 19 June 2023
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Statements | OHCHR , UNITED NATIONS , UNOG
Interactive dialogue on Sudan - Human Rights Council 53rd Session 19 June 2023
Remarks by:
- Mr. Volker Türk, High Commissioner for Human Rights [in person];
- H.E. Mr. Hassan Hamid Hassan, the Permanent Representative of Sudan to the United Nations Office at Geneva.
- H.E. Mr. Mohamed Belaiche, Special Representative of the Chairperson and Head of the African Union Liaison Office in the Sudan
- (pending: Mr. Radhouane Nouicer, designated Expert on human rights in the Sudan)
Please find below the programme of the Human Rights Council for the opening day of the 53rd session - Monday, 19 June 2023 (please see HRC53 page for details on entire session).
NB: The session will take place in Room 20 of the Palais des Nations in Geneva. You can watch the session live on UN webcast: first meeting (10.00-13.00) and second meeting (15.00-18.00)
(...) AFTERNOON:
15.00 Enhanced Interactive Dialogue on Sudan
Opening statements:
- Volker Türk, United Nations High Commissioner for Human Rights (see attached report)
- Radhouane Nouicer, High Commissioner’s designated Expert on the situation of human rights in Sudan (will only speak during concluding remarks)
- Hassan Hamid Hassan, Ambassador, Permanent Representative of Sudan to the United Nations Office and other international organizations in Geneva
- Mohamed Belaiche, Special Representative of the Chairperson and Head of the African Union Liaison Office in Sudan
- a representative of Sudanese civil society (name and modalities of participation TBC)
17.15 Interactive Dialogue on Eritrea
Opening statement:
- Mohamed Babiker, Special Rapporteur on the situation of human rights in Eritrea (see attached report)
18h00 End of meeting
Oral statements delivered at the session will be available on the HRC extranet
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Teleprompter
Mr Vice President, Excellence is distinguished delegates.
The Council has received the report pursuant to Human Rights Council Resolution 50, Stroke one, covering the human rights situation in Sudan from 11 April 2022 to 14 April this year.
Since conflict erupted on the 15th of April, the country has been plunged into chaos.
As the African proverb goes, when the elephants fight, it is the grass that suffers.
In this situation, the people of Sudan are suffering immeasurably.
During my last update to this Council's special session in May, I called for the Rapid Support Forces and the Sudanese Armed Forces to seize the hostilities.
I state again that I'm eager to speak to both parties.
I've also urged all states to help advance a resolution to this catastrophe.
Yet efforts to pursue and sustain A ceasefire have produced little or no success.
We still see a reckless, senseless conflict taking place in a context of total impunity.
The streets of Khartoum and its surrounding cities, of Algena and of El Obid are are stained with the blood of civilians and millions are still in need of vital humanitarian assistance, which in many places has been all but impossible to deliver.
I visited Sudan last November.
While I saw a country in acute pain, I also heard the voices of hope and expectation for a better future.
It is heartbreaking to see that hope decimated.
Aggressive tactics have resulted in the deaths of at least 958 civilians since the fighting began and the injury of 4746.
As of 12th of June, the actual figures are undoubtedly much higher.
More than 1,000,000 people remain trapped in Khartoum, Omdurman and Bahrain.
Densely populated residential areas are being bombarded.
The RSF are forcing people from their homes and looting their possessions.
They have also attacked, looted and occupied hospitals, assaulting health staff and leaving medical services on the verge of collapse.
And the suffering is compounded by dramatic shortages of food, water, cash and electricity, with many on the brink of survival.
In yet another of a long list of attacks on human dignity, many civilians killed in Khartoum and Omdurman have been denied the right to a proper burial, their bodies still lying on the streets or in abandoned homes.
The Sudanese Red Crescent reported that they recently buried 180 unidentified bodies.
Across the country.
Scores of families must now live with uncertainty over the fate of their loved ones.
This is a crisis reverberating across an entire region.
It is a powder keg.
More than 2.1 million people have fled their homes, including five hundred, 28147 who have crossed into neighbouring countries.
Refugees and internally displaced people face abysmal conditions, walking for days in searing heat with very little access to food, water and shelter.
Mr Vice President, blatant disregard to international humanitarian and human rights law and utter indifference for human life and dignity lie at the heart of this conflict.
I condemn in the strongest terms the ongoing human rights violations in the Darfur region.
In West Darfur, the violence has now exploded along ethnic lines.
Just last week, the governor of West Darfur was killed within hours of the RSF arresting him.
At least 430 people were reportedly killed between 24 April and 13 May, most in Elginina.
However, the actual number of people who have lost their lives of a result of organised and repeated large scale attacks by the RSF and large numbers of their supporters targeting African inhabited neighbourhoods in Elginina is expected to be higher.
We have been unable to verify the figures due to communications outages over the last month.
As if that is not enough, residents of Alginina have been cut off from vital services and supplies.
More than 150,000 people have fled Vista 4 into Chad, yet those leaving Alginina fear being turned back or further violations by the RSF who have been controlling the route to the border.
I repeat the call for a humanitarian corridor between Chad and Alchanina and for safe passage for all civilians out of the conflict areas.
In North Tafur, recent clashes have resulted in the killing of more than 100 civilians.
In the first week of June alone, 41 people were killed in the town of Kutum and in Yala S Tafur and in Salinghe central Dafur.
Heavy fighting has erupted at various times since the start of the conflict in both cities.
Most premises belonging to the UN and international non governmental organisations were looted.
Mr.
President, this is a human rights and humanitarian crisis that is unfolding at an alarming rate, on a devastating scale and with a complexity not seen before in Sudan.
Everyday children are bearing the harrowing consequences, with more than 13 million across the country in urgent need of life saving humanitarian support, including 5.6 million in Darfur.
At least 620,000 are reported to be suffering from acute malnutrition.
At the Migoma Orphanage Centre in Khartoum, 71 children reportedly died due to severe shortages of humanitarian and medical supplies.
It is an unfathomable tragedy.
Many children have since been evacuated.
Medical supply shortages are also affecting nursing homes in Khartoum, N.
My office has heard disturbing reports of 10 older men and women dying because they did not receive assistance in time.
Without delay, the parties to the conflict must protect the organisations seeking to evacuate children and older people to a safer place where their needs can be met.
I'm appalled by allegations of sexual violence, including ****.
My office has received credible reports of 18 incidents of sexual violence related to the conflict against at least 53 women and girls.
The victims include at least 10 girls.
In one case, 18 to 20 women were reportedly raped in the same attack.
In almost all cases, the RSF has been identified as the perpetrator.
There is little access to medical and psychosocial support and many cases remain unreported.
As I did when I met him in November last year, I call and on General Da Gallo again to ensure that these vile acts stop immediately.
We continue to receive reports of enforced disappearance and arbitrary arrests of civilians.
At least 394 people have been reported as disappeared from the Khartoum area alone, including sixteen women and twelve children.
The total number could be much higher.
Disappearances have been reported in Khartoum, Darfur and N Kordofan.
Reliable sources tell us that many may be being held by the RSFI.
Welcome the recent release of two Sudanese doctors held incommunicado, one by the RSF, one by the SAF, and call for the immediate release of all civilian detainees.
My heart goes out to the human rights defenders, the lawyers, the journalists and others who have stayed behind, many of whom I had a chance to meet in November last year.
I admire their courage.
Defenders, particularly women, are facing mounting threats, including death threats.
Journalists and media professionals are also encountering threats and hate speech.
Some have been directly targeted on social media, accused of supporting the RSF and threatened with death.
Many others have been arbitrarily arrested or held incommunicado.
Some have been released but there is no information on the whereabouts of many.
Mr.
President, I welcome the new 72 hour nationwide ceasefire that was agreed on 17th June and urged the two parties to respect their commitments to halt the fighting and to allow the unimpeded delivery of humanitarian assistance throughout the country.
So much needed.
The new ceasefire is a new opportunity to put an end to this sea of suffering.
I remind the two parties of their obligations to respect international humanitarian and human rights law and to take all measures necessary to protect all civilians, including humanitarian and medical workers, from harm.
I also call on the authorities to conduct prompt, thorough, impartial and independent investigations into all alleged violations of human rights and international humanitarian law.
I remind them that failure to pursue accountability for past grave violations has contributed to the current crisis.
To break the cycle of violence, impunity must end.
To the governments and people who that have shown great humanity in welcoming refugees seeking safety from this vicious conflict, thank you for your solidarity.
I urge all countries receiving refugees to keep your borders open.
And in the spirit of international solidarity, I call on Member States urgently to scale up funding for humanitarian organisations who are desperately trying to to assist the internally displaced, the refugees both inside and outside Sudan, and also deliver humanitarian assistance.
As we speak, there is a pledging conference going on on the humanitarian front.
So I hope that this pledging conference will fulfil the expectations of the people of Sudan.
I would also like to add that I welcome this Council's decision to strengthen the mandate of my designated expert on Sudan to include detailed monitoring and documentation of the human rights situation, including violations arising directly from the current conflict.
Mr.
President, four years ago, the people of Sudan rose up to demand their rights.
Driven by desire for transition from dictatorship to peace, freedom and safety, they ousted the tyranny they had endured for decades and began to walk the path to justice and freedom.
As we know, their journey was short lived with the October 2021 military coup and now the gruesome conflict that has gripped the country for the past nine weeks.
Millions of lives have been shattered and uprooted, and Sudan is now again engulfed by bleakness and the bottomless grief of the far too many who have lost children, parents and loved ones.
Ushering in a lasting peace demands our utmost attention.
The violence must stop today.
Thank you, Mr Vice President.