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The brutal conflict between the\u00a0Sudanese\u00a0Armed Forces (SAF)\u00a0and the paramilitary Rapid Support Forces (RSF) was the\u00a0focus of\u00a0debate\u00a0as the\u00a0Geneva-based Council\u00a0holds\u00a0its\u00a0first session of the year.\u00a0<\/p>\n
UN High Commissioner for Human Rights Volker T\u00fcrk\u00a0delivered\u00a0remarks\u00a0alongside Mohamed Chande Othman, Chair\u00a0of the Independent International Fact-Finding Mission for the Sudan\u00a0established\u00a0by the Council in October 2023.\u00a0<\/p>\n
Mr. T\u00fcrk\u00a0presented his latest report, outlining\u00a0\u201cyet another chapter in the chronicle of cruelty.\u201d\u00a0As fighting has intensified, violations by all parties have surged \u201cwhile accountability has remained practically absent,\u201d\u00a0he said.\u00a0<\/p>\n
Documentation by his office, OHCHR, \u201cpoints to\u00a0over a two and a half times increase in killings of civilians\u201d in 2025, compared with the previous year<\/strong>.<\/p>\n Latest data\u00a0indicates\u00a0that at least 11,300 civilians were killed last year \u2013 nearly triple the number\u00a0in\u00a02024\u00a0\u2013 while\u00a0many thousands are still missing or unidentified.\u00a0<\/p>\n Both the RSF and the Sudanese army have continued to use explosive weapons in densely populated areas, and often without warning, displaying \u201cutter disregard for human life,\u201d\u00a0the\u00a0High Commissioner\u00a0said.\u00a0<\/p>\n Schools, hospitals, markets, religious\u00a0sites\u00a0and critical infrastructure have all been attacked.\u00a0<\/p>\n \u201cThe bodies of Sudanese women and girls have been weaponised to terrorize communities,\u201d he\u00a0added\u00a0<\/p>\n \u201cIn 2025, we\u00a0identified\u00a0over 500 victims of sexual violence, including rape, gang rape, sexual torture, and slavery \u2013 in some cases resulting in death. And when I was in Sudan earlier this year, I listened to the harrowing testimonies of at least\u00a010\u00a0of them.\u201d\u00a0<\/p>\n Meanwhile,\u00a0the RSF\u2019s capture of the Zamzam camp in North Darfur in April, and its offensive in the\u00a0besieged\u00a0state capital, El Fasher, six months later \u201cunleashed carnage that claimed thousands of lives, amounting to war crimes and possible crimes against humanity.\u201d\u00a0<\/p>\n The\u00a0UN rights chief\u00a0recalled that although he had repeatedly warned about the risks facing the city, the massacre was not prevented.\u00a0<\/p>\n \u201cAs the epicentre of the war shifts to the Kordofan region, I am extremely worried these crimes may be repeated.\u00a0Because\u00a0these are patterns \u2013 of heinous, ruthless brutality<\/strong>.\u201d\u00a0<\/p>\n He\u00a0noted that there is already \u201ca\u00a0worrying escalation in drone strikes and blockades<\/strong>\u00a0by both the RSF and the SAF in Kordofan and beyond, including on humanitarian aid convoys.\u201d These attacks have killed or injured\u00a0nearly 600\u00a0civilians since the beginning of the year.\u00a0<\/p>\n The fact-finding mission for Sudan issued its latest report last week and Mr. Othman warned of the ongoing risk of\u00a0further genocidal violence the longer the war\u00a0continues.\u00a0<\/p>\n He said the\u00a0situation around El-Fasher\u00a0\u201cexhibits clear hallmarks of genocide\u201d\u00a0by the RSF against the Zaghawa and Fur communities,\u00a0as\u00a0evidenced\u00a0by mass killings, causing serious bodily and mental harm, and deliberately inflicting conditions of life calculated to bring about their physical destruction in whole or in part.\u00a0<\/p>\nWomen\u2019s bodies \u2018weaponised\u2019<\/strong>\u00a0<\/h2>\n
\u2018Carnage\u2019 in El Fasher, concern for the\u00a0Kordofans<\/strong>\u00a0<\/h2>\n
Genocidal fears<\/strong>\u00a0<\/h2>\n