UN rights body orders urgent inquiry into violations in Sudan's Al Fasher

The Human Rights Council has held a special session on the human rights situation in and around Al Fasher, Sudan, adopting —without a vote— a resolution requesting the Independent International Fact-Finding Mission for the Sudan to conduct an urgent inquiry into recent alleged violations of international law committed in the area.

In the resolution adopted on Friday on the human rights situation in and around Al Fasher, the council "strongly condemned the escalating violence and reported atrocities committed by the Rapid Support Forces (RSF) and associated forces in and around Al Fasher, following their assault on the city, including large-scale atrocities such as ethnically motivated killings, torture, summary executions, and widespread use of sexual and gender-based violence as a weapon of warfare."

It requested the fact-finding mission to identify, where possible, all those for whom there were reasonable grounds to believe they were responsible and to support efforts to ensure accountability for alleged abuses.

The resolution also asked the UN human rights office to present a verbal update to the council on the human rights situation in Al Fasher before its 61st session and requested the fact-finding mission to present a report on the findings of its inquiry to the council at that session, followed by an enhanced interactive dialogue.

‘A turning point’

This was the 38th special session of the council, which opened with a series of keynote addresses.

UN High Commissioner for Human Rights Volker Turk warned that "the atrocities that were unfolding in Al Fasher were foreseen and preventable—but they were not prevented," citing "mass killings of civilians; ethnically targeted executions; sexual violence, including gang rape; and other appalling atrocities."

Adama Dieng, the special envoy of the African Union on the prevention of genocide and mass atrocities, called on the international community to halt the flow of weapons and fighters into Sudan, saying it is "very directly" contributing to the targeting of specific identity groups.

He said the session needed to be "a turning point—a rallying call for shared humanity and duty."

Mona Rishmawi of the fact-finding mission said: "Much of Al Fasher was now a crime scene," describing evidence of "unspeakable atrocities."

Speakers throughout the debate expressed alarm at the situation, condemned violations attributed to the Rapid Support Forces, and called for accountability and an immediate end to the war.