The United Nations Office at Geneva
Multimedia Newsroom
HRC55: HC on Sudan 01 March 2024
/
9:01
/
MP4
/
580.8 MB
Teleprompter
Madam Vice President
Excellencies Distinguished delegates
The crisis in
OK
fog
of global amnesia.
OK,
it's fine.
Does it work now?
I think it
does.
OK,
we'll start again.
Madam Vice President
Excellencies Distinguished Delegates
The crisis in Sudan is a tragedy that appears to have slipped
into the fog of global amnesia.
For nearly 11 months now, the Sudanese armed forces
and the rapid support forces, as well as their affiliates
have been fighting
a ruthless, senseless conflict.
They have killed thousands, seemingly without remorse.
They have manufactured a climate of sheer terror, forcing millions to flee.
They have let the people who could not
or would not escape
suffer
destroying medical services and blocking humanitarian aid.
And they have consistently acted with impunity
and a distinct lack of accountability for
the multiple violations that have been committed,
continuing
to stagnate on any talks and negotiations
which would achieve much needed peace, safety and dignity for the people of Sudan.
The report before the council highlights a range of
gross violations and abuses of international human rights law
committed by the warring parties in Sudan
between April and December 2023.
It also details serious violations of international humanitarian law
which demand investigation and accountability.
Many of these violations may amount to war crimes or other atrocity crimes.
The crisis in Sudan today continues to be marked
by an insidious disregard for human life.
In the space of 11 months, at least 14,600 people have been killed
and 26 others injured.
Actual figures are undoubtedly much higher.
The toll encompasses thousands of civilians, including many Children and women.
Many humanitarian and health workers have also lost their lives
as they worked under fire to help people in need.
The aggressive tactics have been well documented.
Multiple indiscriminate attacks, striking residential areas and buildings.
The use of weapons with wide area effects,
even in urban areas that are densely populated.
Fired from fighter jets, drones
and tanks.
The destruction of civilian infrastructure critical for daily survival,
such as hospitals and schools with lasting effects for
years to come on access to health and education.
Madam Vice president
in the war in Sudan
Heavy artillery forms just one part of the weaponry.
Sexual violence as a weapon of war,
including rape,
has been a defining and despicable characteristic
of this crisis since the beginning,
since the start of the conflict last April,
my office has documented 60 incidents of conflict related sexual
violence involving at least 120 victims across the country,
the vast majority women and girls.
These figures are sadly
a vast underrepresentation of the reality.
Men in RSF uniform and armed men affiliated with
the RSF were reported to be responsible for 81%
of the documented incidents.
My office has received disturbing reports of ethnically motivated killings,
including beheadings in North Kordofan
and incidents in various areas, including in
Khartoum state, West
Darfur and Al
Jazeera state.
My office will follow up with the Sudanese authorities to ensure
investigation into these allegations and that perpetrators are held to account.
I'm also deeply worried for the fate of thousands
of civilians held by both parties and their affiliates
in arbitrary detention
and for the hundreds who have
been disappeared.
They include political activists,
human rights defenders,
members of the resistance committees,
alleged supporters of one of the fighting parties and many others.
Many have been allegedly tortured
and many have died from their wounds.
I am appalled
by the rising call to armed civilians, including Children.
My office has recently received reports of the RSF recruiting hundreds of Children
as fighters in Darfur
and the
SAF doing likewise in eastern Sudan.
These practises are in blatant breach of the optional
protocol to the Convention on the Rights of the Child
on the Involvement of Children in Armed Conflict by which Sudan is bound.
Also troubling are the reports of civilians themselves
mobilising under the new Popular Armed Resistance Movement.
There are real fears this may result in the
formation of an armed civil militia with no defined control
increasing the chances of Sudan sliding into a spiral
of protracted civil war.
Madam Vice President Sudan
has become a living nightmare.
Almost half of the population 25 million people are in urgent need of food
and medical aid.
Some 80% of hospitals have been put out of service.
The apparently deliberate denial of safe and
unimpeded access for humanitarian agencies within Sudan itself
constitutes a serious violation of international law
and may amount
to a
war crime.
I call again
on the warring parties to meet their
legal obligations by opening humanitarian corridors without delay
before more lives are lost,
with more than 8 million forced to flee within Sudan
and to neighbouring countries. This crisis is upending the country
and profoundly threatening peace,
security and humanitarian conditions throughout the entire region.
Madam Vice President.
As I have stated before,
this is a war characterised by generalised impunity
and very little accountability for the violations and abuses committed
to date.
The RSF has not delivered on its promise to
co-operate with the international fact finding mission on Sudan
established by this council in October last year
and the Sudanese authorities continue to oppose any collaboration.
I urge all parties to the conflict to take immediate steps to cooperating
with the fact finding mission and for member states,
particularly Sudan's neighbouring countries, to support its vital work.
Right now, I am afraid to say
there is a gaping hole in effective dialogue towards ending this war.
I encourage all states with influence to increase
pressure on the two parties and their affiliates
to negotiate a peaceful solution to this catastrophe
and to pursue
and sustain a ceasefire.
The international community also has a critical role to play
to alleviate the intense scale of human suffering endured by the people of Sudan.
I regret that less than 4%
of Sudan's humanitarian response plan
has so far been funded,
which seriously affects the ability of humanitarian
agencies to respond to this crisis.
I urge member states immediately to fulfil their financial commitments.
I went to Sudan in November 22. It was my first visit as high commissioner
and I heard stories of loss and grief.
But I also heard many stories of hope.
I fear this hope has been broken.
Decades of turmoil and repression in Sudan preceded this crisis,
but nothing has prepared the people of Sudan
for the level of suffering they face today.
The fighting parties must agree
to return to peace
without delay.
Perpetrators of the horrific human rights violations
and abuses must be held to account
without delay
and without delay.
The international community must refocus its attention on this deplorable crisis
before it descends even further into chaos.
The future of the people of Sudan depend on it.
Thank you.