UN Geneva - Multimedia Newsroom : HRC57 - Human Rights in Sudan

We will now proceed with the enhanced interactive dialogue on the situation of human rights in the Sudan pursuant to Council Resolution 54 slash 2 and it is my honour to welcome our distinguished presenters, Miss Nada Al Nashif, Deputy **** Commissioner for Human Rights, Mr Mohammed Chandi Ottman, Miss Joy Ngosi Enzalo and Miss Mona Rishabi, members of the Independent International Fact finding Mission for the Sudan, His Excellency Mr.

Al Fatif Mohammed EISA Taifor, Attorney General of the Sudan, Miss Alice Vairimu Derito, Special Advisor to the Secretary General on the Prevention of genocide, and Mr Abdel Salam Siddad Ahmed, Chairperson of the Sudanese Human Rights Monitor.

The list of speakers will close in 15 minutes.

I now have the honour to give the floor to the Deputy **** Commissioner for her presentation.

Madam, you have the floor.

Thank you, Madam Vice President, good morning, Your Excellencies, distinguished delegates.

Over 16 months on, the conflict in Sudan continues to spiral out of control.

Civilians bear the brunt of hostilities between the Sudanese Armed Forces and the Rapid Support Forces and respective allied armed movements and militias conducted with total disregard for international law.

Since the **** Commissioner's update to this Council in March, the conflict has escalated further.

Declarations by the warring parties of commitments to protect civilians remain empty, with violations continuing unabated.

Our Office and the Designated Expert continue to document violations of international humanitarian law and human rights violations and abuses by all parties to the conflict.

Indiscriminate attacks and the use of weapons with wide area effects in densely populated areas have resulted in thousands of civilian casualties in the destruction of vital infrastructure, including hospitals, schools and markets, and the decimations of sources of livelihoods.

Since May, El Fasher in North Darfur has been ravaged by heavy fighting.

The targeting of medical facilities has deprived the population of health services.

From June to August, we documented over 864 civilian deaths in attacks on residential areas across Sudan.

Our office is particularly alarmed by the use, since the beginning of the conflict, of sexual violence as a weapon of war.

We have documented 97 incidents involving 172 victims, predominantly women and girls, which is a gross under representation of the reality.

Responsibility for 81% of incidents was attributed to men in RSF uniform and affiliated armed men.

We also received credible reports of sexual violence attributed to the SAF troops and the allied armed movements.

We again urge the parties to issue and enforce strict command orders to prohibit and punish sexual violence and to take other effective steps to prevent it.

I am deeply troubled by ethnically motivated attacks and hate speech.

Our office has documented multiple testimonies recounting summary executions, sexual violence, and forced displacement perpetrated by the RSF and allied Arab militia, notably targeting the Massalit community in West Darfur.

Ethnically motivated violence, harassment and the rest were also documented in Darfur and Al Jazeera.

The mobilisation of civilians, including children, has intensified across Sudan, particularly along tribal lines.

This poses risks of a widening civil war with further ethnic dimensions.

Civic space is increasingly shrinking across the country.

States of emergency are relied upon to curtail activities of civil society organisations and journalists and to detain individuals based on political opinion.

Since telecommunication blackouts in February and March, restrictions have continued with recent efforts to block the use of satellite Internet access.

These vital services for civilians and humanitarians alike must be maintained.

Arbitrary detention by both parties and allied armed movements continues.

Our office documented increasing arrests by military intelligence and imposition of death sentences for alleged support for the RSF, often based upon real or presumed tribal identity.

We have also documented unlawful detention, again often based on ethnicity, by the RSF in Darfur.

Accountability is critical to end long standing impunity and in this regard the continued work of the international Fact Finding Mission on Sudan is vital.

I urge all parties to Co operate with the Mission whose investigative mandate complements the broader engagement by our office and the designated expert.

I also urge the Council and Member States to carefully consider the findings of the Fact Finding Mission.

Madam Vice President, this senseless conflict has had a devastating impact on economic and social rights, in particular the rights to food, to housing and to education.

As a result, over 20% of the population is displaced, that is 10.7 million people internally and 2.1 million in neighbouring countries.

Sudan faces critical levels of food insecurity, with an imminent risk of famine and more than half its population, 25.6 million people in acute hunger.

Despite operational challenges, our office and the designated Expert continue to monitor and analyse the human rights situation, engage with national stakeholders including civil society, and support political and humanitarian efforts.

I reiterate the urgency of visa approvals for our international staff to access Sudan to enhance this engagement.

I also welcome recent proximity talks convened by the Personal Envoy of the Secretary General, which we supported through technical advice and the Aligned for Advancing Life Saving and Peace in Sudan Alps Group initiative.

I urge the international community and states with influence to take necessary actions to end the hostilities and support inclusive dialogue to pave the way for a civilian transition.

Such efforts must must consider economic interests that undermine peace, and our office remains ready to engage with all parties and actors to support concrete measures to uphold human rights and effectively protect civilians.

Madam Vice President, I will conclude in Arabic Kama akadel mofaro de Sami amam majlis hirkukal insan kana honak Amal Sudan kabla Amin.

Today, the Sudanese people suffers an unprecedented crisis globally.

This crisis is fuelled by impunity, ongoing power struggle as well as the use of ethnic tensions driven by vested political and economic interests.

The international community cannot let this to continue.

This must be ended the particularly the strategy against the Sudanese people which is entitled to enjoy peace and stability.

And thank you, Madam Vice President, I thank the Deputy **** Commissioner for her presentation and I now give the floor to Mr Mohammed Chandi Ottman for the presentation of the report.

So you have the floor.

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Excellencies, I am pleased to present the report of the International of the Independent International Fact Finding Mission for the Sudan with my two colleagues, Mona Rishwami enjoying Gozierziello.

In discharging our mandate, we visited Chad, Kenya and Uganda to which we are grateful.

We also held extensive consultation with Sudanese and international human rights defenders, experts, diplomats and conducted interviews with victims and eyewitnesses.

We are grateful to all those who have engaged with us.

We sought to visit Sudan and engage with the government, reaching out four times.

Regrettably, no response was received, but we remain open to such engagement.

I now share our main findings.

Our report is established that both the Sudanese Armed Forces, SAF and the Rapid Response Forces, RSF, and their respective militias have committed large scale human rights and international humanitarian law violations, some of which may amount to war crimes and crimes against humanity.

Both have attacked civilians and civilian objects, including through air strikes and heavy artillery shelling in densely populated areas, notably in Khartoum and Darfur.

The conflict now effects 14 of the 18 Sudanese states, resulting in thousands of death, injuries, extensive displacement, and destruction of residential homes, hospitals, schools and other critical infrastructure amounting to war crimes.

Both are responsible for violating children's rights, including through killing and maiming.

Both engaged in a pit of arbitraries and detention, as well as torture and in treatment in areas under their control, also amounting to war crimes.

Both have imposed broad Internet shutdown and curtailing Freedom of Information and expression, including attacks on the media, journalist and human right defenders, and both obstructed access to humanitarian aid for civilians in need.

The RFFS and allied militias are also engaged in other war crimes and crimes against humanity.

These include widespread sexual and gender based violence, ****, sexual slavery, abduction, and recruitment and use of children in hostilities.

They've also systematically engaged in pillage and looting.

And they continue large scale attacks based on ethnicity, especially against the mass elite community in El Gianina, including killings, torture, **** and persecution.

I now revert to our main recommendations.

First, since the current conflict erupted in April last year, thousands of civilians were killed and injured, nearly 8,000,000 internally displaced, 2.1 million refugees, 25.6 million facing acute hunger.

A sustainable ceasefire that would enable the effective delivery of much needed humanitarian assistance is accurately needed.

We applaud the various efforts aimed at bringing the parties to negotiation and urgent negotiators to consider our findings and recommendations.

Second, the deployment of independent, independent, impartial force with a mandate to protect civilians is needed.

Thirdly, all States and entities must comply with the existing arms embargo imposed in Darfur Personal Security Council Resolution 1556.

This embargo must now cover the whole of Sudan.

Fourthly, the jurisdiction of the International Criminal Court should be extended to cover all Sudan, given the focus of the ICC on those most responsible.

A separate international judicial mechanism working in complementary with the ICC is also needed.

Fifty, a dedicated entity in the form of a Victim Support and Reparations Office should be established immediately.

Thank you very much.

Madam Vice President, I thank Mr Ottman for the presentation of the report of the Independent International Fact Finding Mission for Sudan and I now give the floor to His Excellency Mr.

Al Fatif Muhammad E Satayford for his presentation.

Praise as Mahoulini on behalf of my delegation and my capacity as a General Attorney and as Chair of the National Committee for the Investigation in Crimes and Violations of National Law.

And IHLI wish to thank Ambassador's neighbour for his smooth management or preparations for this session.

President, we have taken into account fair trial in all the suits which totalled over 18,000, some of which against members of the regular Army, some of whom had their impunity scrapped.

37 of these laws were ended and we conduct the investigation in 273 while we decided upon 144 and 346 suspects were considered running from justice and we wrote to countries to extradite some of these suspects.

We stress our keen interest in putting an end to impunity.

The war conducted by the RSF militia.

So this militia committing crimes against humanity and genocide against defenceless civilians.

It committed methodic targeting of Masalit ethnic group in Western Darfur killing 5000 and during 8000 while killing Governor of Western Darfur and mutilitated his body.

It committed **** of all kinds which leading to victims of nine 966.

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Some of these children were arrested in battles and were handed over to their families in cooperation with the ICRC.

The total victims of violations totals 27,594 president.

The militia attacked various swathes of Sudan in order to conduct theft and made massacres against civilians from July to Augustus to 1024 in Jazeera and Sanaa regions.

The tooth the number of people killed totals 419.

It committed graves crimes against personal disabilities, killing eight of them with live ammunitions.

Also Dough Jehos care elderly house also was targeted.

There is also a violation of our national laws and our international human rights law, where the militia conducted extrajudicial executions of 12 civilians in Umdurman president.

Given its ongoing violations, the rebels attacked 37 prisons in the country, released over 19,000 inmates, some of which are convict terrorists.

It's recruited them together with large number of mercenaries, mercenaries from over 12 countries.

We have arrested as authorities 105 of these.

It also attacked airports, diplomatic missions, conducted the thefts of humanitarian aids, impeded delivery of humanitarian aid and also sold this aids in markets affecting the life of people.

President, this militia attacked properties, civilians occupied, also houses of civilians.

I used them as barracks.

It has also confiscated 540 property, stole 570,000 tonnes of aids and desecrated how churches, mosques, also various other historical sites and houses.

It took fifteen of these hospitals as military positions.

It attacked also the police headquarters, the the justice courts.

It also attacked the sectors of agriculture, energy, oil leading to huge damages.

In closing, we recommend the Council to ensure the principle of complementarity and to support our National Committee and the mandate of the FFMS.

Pressure the UAE in order to end the rebel, to put an end to the war and to ensure reparation for damages incurred by civilians.

Ensure reaching out to victims, Helping establish a fund for Operation for Victims 6 cooperation in order to to facilitate our times to combat terrorism and to brand and categorise the militia as a terrorist group.

And thank you, Madam President, I thank His Excellency for his presentation.

The list of speakers is now closed and we will now watch a video message from Miss Alice Vairimu Derito.

Your Excellencies, ladies and gentlemen, I would like to thank you for this opportunity to join this enhanced interactive dialogue at the Human Rights Council on responding to the human rights and the humanitarian crisis caused by the ongoing armed conflict in Sudan.

This has been and continues to remain tremendously concerning from the perspective of my mandate.

As a Special Advisor to the Secretary General on the prevention of genocide.

I'm mandated to raise early warning and make recommendations to the Secretary General and the United Nations Security Council on potential situations that could result in genocide and on actions to prevent or halt genocide.

I do not investigate, conduct human rights monitoring or legally qualify situations either ongoing or from the past as genocide, war crimes or crimes against humanity.

Instead, I assess whether there's a risk of genocide occurring in a given situation with the objective of preventing the Commission of this crime or of halting it when it's suspected to be already occurring with this mandate.

I have relentlessly raised alarms on this situation, issuing 9 statements since September 2022 on Khartoum, Gafour, Cordofan, Blue Nile and Gazira.

Grave violations and abuses of international human rights and humanitarian law.

My statements have expressed concern, particularly at the intercommunal and identity based dimension of the violence.

I've also briefed the United Nations Security Council on the situation on Sudan from the perspective of my mandate in May this year.

Today, I need to reiterate this again.

We see all the risks and indicators for the crime of genocide, with serious allegations that this crime has already been committed in Sudan.

Your Excellencies, ladies and gentlemen, we are now more than 500 days into the war in Sudan.

The fighting persists with no end insight.

Regrettably, the violence is only expanding from Khartoum, Darfur and Cordovan to Gazeera Senal and elsewhere.

Sudanese civilians continue to face systematic and indiscriminate attacks, including by the main warring parties.

All parties to the conflict continue to fight without distinction, proportionality and precaution.

The evident intent is to win rather than to protect civilians.

Heavy weaponry has been used in densely populated areas.

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Properties have been destroyed and looted.

Civilians persist to be disproportionately impacted.

They are killed, detained, tortured and dispossessed of their homes and land.

Disturbing videos and photographs of these violations and abuses are being posted on social media.

Violence against women and children, including conflict related sexual violence remains rampant and used as a tool of terror.

According to the International Organisation for Migration, over 10.7 million people are displaced within the country, with many displaced twice or more times.

In August, farming was declared in Zamzam camp near El Fasha, N Darfur.

Many other areas in Darfur and beyond are said to be at **** risk with more than half of the population facing crisis levels of hunger.

Your Excellencies, ladies and gentlemen, according to the Convention on the Prevention and Punishment of the Crime of Genocide, the crime of genocide is defined as any of a series of acts committed with intent to destroy, in whole or in part, a national, ethnic or racial or religious group.

The hate speech and ethnic based attacks that unfolded in front of our eyes in Darfur, especially in West Darfur in 2023, suggested elements that are relevant to the considerations of whether the crime of genocide has been committed.

Deliberate and systematic attacks have been committed against the ethnic mass elite group, especially by the RSF and allied militias.

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Prominent community leaders have been killed.

Conditions of life have been deprived, including with medical and transportation facilities bombed.

Access to water and electricity has been deliberately limited.

**** and other forms of sexual and gender based violence have been persistently used as a weapon of war.

Age pyramid statistics in the Chadian refugee camps which I visited last year, suggest that young men and boys have been particularly targeted.

Derogatory language such as blacks and slaves have been prevalently used as an element of incitement violence amplified through social media platforms.

My office has received reports of rampant hate speech and incitement of violence campaigns with large scale information operations glorifying the Commission of violence, including against specific protected groups.

Leaders have called upon civilians to take up arms.

The attacks in and around North Darfur potentially suggest similar dynamics with reports of indiscriminate violence including sexual violence, shelling, looting and raising of residential and commercial structures.

Internally displaced persons camps as well as medical facilities have not been exempt from such attacks.

Civilians are impacted disproportionately.

They include a large number of non Arab communities including the Zagawa, the Four, the Masalit and others.

They also include Arab civilians with reports of targeted attacks against them.

As the fighting continues, the risks of reprisals are deepening.

Ethnic cleavages are only escalating.

Your Excellencies, ladies and gentlemen, impunity for serious violations of international human rights, of genocide and related crimes.

All of their incitement constitutes a risk factor for the Commission of such crimes.

20 years ago in Darfur, the same communities were targeted.

They were targeted for who they were ethnically and racially.

The accountability for the past crimes in Darfur is still at large and the absence of accountability managed to create fertile grounds for the current violence.

It is imperative that we urgently hold perpetrators accountable for the ongoing crimes in Darfur and beyond.

This decades long violence has shattered the social fabric and it's time for decisive action.

All avenues for protection and for accountability must be identified and supported.

For this, the work of the Independent International Fact Finding Mission for Sudan remains crucial.

Collecting and preserving evidence as well as establishing the root causes of this grave violations is essential for achieving justice.

Continued support for and cooperation with the fact finding mission is vital.

Accountability can provide the countless victims and survivors with a sense of justice they deserve and lay a sustainable foundation for rebuilding their future in Sudan.

So your excellencies, ladies and gentlemen, allow me to once again emphasise all marks of the risk factors and indicators of genocide and related crimes are are still present in the country, only aggravating as the fighting prolongs.

Against this backdrop, the international community, including United Nations Secretary, Generous Personal Envoy for Sudan, Mr Ramtamne La Mamre and key regional institutions like the African Union, the Intergovernmental Authority on Development and the League of Arab States continue to persevere with their efforts to protect the Sudanese civilians and to create a conducive environment for a peaceful and durable resolution of the conflict.

Just last month, they aligned for Advancing Life Saving and Peace in Sudan.

LP's group gathered in Switzerland, building upon the foundation of the Jeddah Process that commenced last year.

The talks facilitated the reopening and expansion of critical humanitarian access routes and the receiving of commitments from the warring parties to improve the protection of civilians, among others.

The Human Rights Council's contribution to preventing genocide in the country remains ever more critical today for the country and for the ordinary Sudanese civilians.

I encourage this Council's continued support to the Fact Finding Mission and its engagements on the situation in Sudan.

I assure you of my continued and sustained support.

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HRC57 - Human Rights in Sudan - 10 September 2024