UN committee warns Sudan must address escalating ethnic violence News
UR-SDV (GFDL or GFDL), via Wikimedia Commons
UN committee warns Sudan must address escalating ethnic violence

UN anti-racism experts on Tuesday raised “grave concerns” about ethnically motivated human rights violations in Sudan. The Committee on the Elimination of Racial Discrimination (CERD) urged Sudan to act to put an end to these violations and prevent further escalation.

The committee issued this decision under “early warning” and “urgent procedures” mechanisms. The experts are particularly concerned with increased dehumanizing language, hate speech, and abuses targeting the Fur, Masalit and Zaghawa ethnic communities in Darfur region. These abuses are said to be carried out by the Rapid Support Forces (RSF) paramilitary group and allied militias in El Fasher, capital of North Darfur state, and other areas.

El Fasher fell to the RSF on October 26 after a 540-day siege and atrocities have followed, including reports of “ethnically motivated killings, torture, summary executions, arbitrary detention of civilians; widespread and systemic use of rape and other forms of sexual and gender-based violence as a weapon of warfare.”

Similar violence is unfolding in the Kordofan region, according to UN Human Rights Chief Volker Türk. He stressed the urgency of the situation:

It is truly shocking to see history repeating itself in Kordofan so soon after the horrific events in El Fasher… We must not allow Kordofan to become another El Fasher… Have we not learned our lessons from the past? We cannot stand idly by and allow more Sudanese to become victims of horrific human rights violations. We must act, and this war must stop now.

The UN called on Sudan to take “effective measures” in response to these escalations, including “prompt, effective, thorough, impartial and public investigations.” The recommendations include cooperation with the Independent International Fact-Finding Mission for the Sudan, which was established by a 2023 UN resolution. The mission’s mandate is to investigate facts, circumstances and root causes of human rights violations, and document and analyze evidence.

These latest attacks come amid the armed conflict between the Sudanese Armed Forces and the RSF which began in April 2023. The conflict was “born out of a struggle for power” between the factions’ leaders. The UN and other bodies have reported severe humanitarian crisis throughout this period; Amnesty International recently warned of atrocities potentially constituting war crimes.

A recent report by the Yale School of Public Health documents evidence of mass killings gathered by satellite imagery. The researchers warn that the killings “may rise to the level of genocide.” Similar concerns have been presented to the UN Security Council.

The CERD urged all parties to cease hostilities, negotiate a lasting ceasefire, and to engage in inclusive dialogue amongst ethnic groups to prevent further atrocities. The goal must be to “reach a peaceful and lasting resolution of the conflict and to restore a civilian-led government.”

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