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

two.

And it is my honour to welcome our distinguished presenters.

Ms. Nada Al

Nasif, Deputy High Commissioner for Human Rights

Mr Mohammed

Chandi

Otman,

Ms Joy, Ngozi and

Zelo

and Ms Mona Rishi,

members of the Independent International Fact Finding Mission

for the Sudan

His Excellency Mr Al

Fif Mohammed

E Zato,

Attorney General of the Sudan

Ms Alice Vai

Vu

Uh

Nitto, Special Advisor to the Secretary General on the Prevention of Genocide

and Mr Abdel Salam

Sad

Me

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 High 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 High 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 decimation of sources of livelihoods.

Since May,

Al 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 youth.

Since the beginning of the conflict of sexual violence as a weapon of war,

we have documented 97 incidents involving 100 and 72 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

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 RS and allied Arab militia,

notably targeting the

Masalit community in West

Darfur.

Ethnically motivated violence,

harassment and arrests 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

often based upon real or presumed tribal identity.

We have also documented unlawful detention again, often based on ethnicity by the

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 Cooper

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

KED

de S

a

males

her

Kel

in

San

KH am

Sudan

Kab

Amain.

Today, the Sudanese people suffers an unprecedented crisis globally.

This crisis is fueled 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 particularly this strategy against the

Sudanese people which is entitled to enjoy peace and stability.

And thank you, Madam Vice President.

I thank the Deputy High Commissioner for her presentation

and I now give the floor to Mr Mohammed

Chandi

Otman for the presentation of the report. So you have the floor.

Madam Vice President Excellencies, I am pleased to present the report

of the interna

of the independent international Fact finding mission

for the Sudan with my two colleagues Mona Rishwa

and Joy Ngozi

Zie.

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

S

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 affects 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 pat of arbitrary arrest

and detention, as well as torture

and ill 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 through attacks on the media, journalists

and human rights defenders,

and both obstructed access to humanitarian aid for civilians in need.

The RFF is an allied militias.

They also engage in other war crimes and crimes against humanity.

These include widespread sexual and gender based violence,

rape, 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

Masalit community

in

Guina, including killings, torture,

rape and persecution,

I now revert to a man

recommendations first.

Since the current conflict erupted in April last year,

thousands of civilians were killed and injured.

Nearly 8 million internally displaced.

2.1 million refugees. 25.6 million Facing acute hunger

A sustainable ceasefire

that will 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 an

independent and impartial force with a mandate to protect the rebellion

is needed.

Thirdly, all states and entities must comply

with the existing arms embargo imposed in Darfur.

Pass

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.

Fifthly, 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 Otman 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

Fif Mohammed

Aza ta

for for his presentation

as

the

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 I.

I wish to thank Ambassador's neighbour for his

smooth management or preparations for this session.

President,

we have taken into account a trial in all the suits which totaled over 18,000,

some of which, against members of the regular army,

some of whom had their immunity scrapped.

37 of these laws were ended and we conducted 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

militia.

So this militia committing crimes against

humanity and genocide against defenceless civilians.

It committed methodic targeting of meal

ethnic group in western Darfur, killing 5000,

and during 8000 while killing governor of Western Darfur and mutilated his body.

It committed rape of all kinds which are

leading to victims of 909 166.

It also recruited Children

and killed 4850 Children.

Some of these Children were arrested in battles and were

handed over to their families in Cooper operation with the

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

August 2024. In Jazeera and Sana'a regions,

the number of people killed total is for 119.

It committed grave crimes against persons with disabilities,

killing eight of them with live ammunitions.

Also do

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 Durman

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 recruited them together with a 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 a lot of people.

President, This militia attacked properties civilians occupied.

Also houses of civilians. I use them as

barracks.

It has also confiscated 540 property.

Uh, stole 570,000

tonnes of AIDS and desecrated ho

churches mosques, uh, also

various other historical sites and houses.

It took 15 of these, uh 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 FMs.

Pressure the UAE

in order to end the rebel to put an end to the war and to ensure reparations for

damages incurred by civilians, ensure reaching out to victims

helping establish a fund for operation for victims.

See Cooper operation in order 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

Vitto.

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 profession of genocide

are 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 is 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 nine statements since September 2022 on Khartoum,

Darfur,

Cordovan, Blue Nile and Gaza,

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 in sight.

Regrettably, the violence is only expanding

from Khartoum,

Darfur

and Cordovan to

Gaza,

Sana'a 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.

Airstrikes continue,

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,

famine was declared in Zam Zam camp near

Fasha, north Darfur,

many other areas in Darfur

and

are assessed to be at high 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 ethnical 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 Masalit group,

especially by the RSF and allied militias.

Entire villages have been banned,

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.

Rape 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 zaga,

the fur,

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 decade 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 these grave violations,

is essential for achieving justice.

Continued support for

and Cooper operation 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 still present in the country,

only aggravating as the fighting prolongs.

Against this backdrop,

the international community including United Nations

Secretary General's personal Envoy for Sudan,

Mr

Ram

Tane

Lamamra

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, the allied for Advancing Life saving and peace in Sudan.

A 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.

Thank you.

HRC57 - Human Rights in Sudan - 10 September 2024