UNITED NATIONS, Jan 19 (APP): UN High Commissioner for Human Rights Volker Turk has issued a stark warning that Sudan is collapsing into \u201can abyss of unimaginable dimensions\u201d, and underscored that human rights must be at the centre of efforts to end the fighting and build lasting peace.<\/p>\n
Speaking in Nairobi, Kenya, on Sunday after a five-day mission to Sudan, Turk said \u201ca chronicle of cruelty is unfolding before our very eyes,\u201d nearly three years after fighting erupted between the Sudanese Armed Forces (SAF) and the Rapid Support Forces (RSF).<\/p>\n
Turk briefed journalists in the Kenyan capital following a five-day mission to Sudan, where \u201ca chronicle of cruelty is unfolding before our very eyes\u201d.<\/p>\n
He called on \u201call those who have any influence, including regional actors and notably those who supply the arms and benefit economically from this war\u201d to act urgently to bring it to an end.<\/p>\n
Turk last visited Sudan in November 2022. Back then, he was deeply inspired by civil society\u2014particularly the young people and women who spearheaded the 2018 revolution.<\/p>\n
While the civil war between two factions of the Sudanese military government — SAF and RSF –\u201chas plunged the country into an abyss of unfathomable proportions\u201d \u2013 affecting the entire nation and all its people \u2013 \u201cthe spirit of the struggle for peace, justice and freedom\u2026is not broken,\u201d he affirmed.<\/p>\n
\u201cI bore witness in Sudan to the trauma of the unspeakable brutality that people have suffered \u2013 but also to the resilience and defiance of the human spirit.\u201d<\/p>\n
Turk met with various sectors of society, including young people who organise and deliver aid to their communities \u201coften in the face of massive bureaucratic hurdles, risking detention and violence.\u201d<\/p>\n
As one volunteer told him, \u201cThe price of war is being paid by young people. Sudanese young people are at the frontlines of this war, serving those who are in need of humanitarian aid.\u201d<\/p>\n
The rights chief highlighted attacks on critical civilian infrastructure, such as the Merowe dam and hydroelectric power station which once supplied 70 per cent of electricity needs nationwide.<\/p>\n
It has been repeatedly hit by drones launched by the RSF, including in recent weeks. Such attacks are serious violations and can amount to war crimes.<\/p>\n
He called for both warring parties to \u201ccease intolerable attacks against civilian objects that are indispensable to the civilian population, including markets, health facilities, schools and shelters.\u201d<\/p>\n
Turk also met people displaced from the besieged city of El Fasher in North Darfur who are now living in the Al Afad camp some 1,200 kilometres away. Among them was a four-year-old who lost his hearing due to bombardment and a three-year-old who wouldn\u2019t smile.<\/p>\n
\u201cOne woman saw her husband and only son killed,” he said. “She is still bedridden from grief, trauma, and the bullet she took in her shoulder while trying \u2013 in vain \u2013 to shield her son.\u201d<\/p>\n
He shared the testimony of Aisha, 20, who was fleeing El Fasher on a donkey cart in October when armed men on camels ordered the women to come down. Her brother tried to intervene but was shot, while her mother begged the men to take her instead of the children.<\/p>\n
\u201cThey hit her, took me and told me to keep quiet or they would kill my mother. Then what happened\u2026happened. My period has not come since then,\u201d she told Turk.<\/p>\n
In Sudan, \u201cwomen and girls\u2019 bodies have been weaponized,\u201d he said. Sexual violence is being used as a weapon of war \u2013 also a war crime \u2013 and it is widespread and systematic.<\/p>\n
The UN rights chief also heard accounts of widespread summary executions. He underlined that all parties to the conflict \u201chave perpetrated gross violations and abuses of international human rights law and serious violations of international humanitarian law, notably when the fighting intensifies to control new areas.\u201d<\/p>\n
He expressed deep concern that atrocity crimes committed inf El Fasher are at risk of being repeated in the Kordofan region, where fighting has intensified since late October. This is happening amid famine conditions in the city of Kadugli and risk of famine elsewhere, including Dilling, he said in a stark warning.<\/p>\n
He deplored the proliferation of advanced military equipment across Sudan, particularly drones, saying \u201cit is despicable that large sums of money are being spent on procuring increasingly advanced weaponry \u2013 funds that should be used to alleviate the suffering of the population.\u201d<\/p>\n
Another concern is the increasing militarization of society by all parties to the conflict, including through the arming of civilians and recruitment and use of
\nThe UN rights chief concluded his remarks by calling on the warring parties to protect civilians and civilian infrastructure, guarantee safe passage for people to leave conflict areas, and ensure unimpeded access for the delivery of humanitarian aid.<\/p>\n
The UN rights chief concluded his remarks by calling on the warring parties to protect civilians and civilian infrastructure, guarantee safe passage for people to leave conflict areas, and ensure unimpeded access for the delivery of humanitarian aid.<\/p>\n
\u201cMeasures, such as humane treatment of detainees, accounting for and establishing the fate of missing persons, and releasing civilians detained for alleged \u2018collaboration\u2019 with the opposing party are also priority areas,\u201d he added.<\/p>\n
Turk repeated the plea that he made when he last visited Sudan.<\/p>\n
\u201cI urge all those involved to set aside entrenched positions, power games, and personal interests, and to focus on the common interests of the Sudanese people,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n
\u201cAgain, I leave with a plea that human rights be central to building confidence and bringing this war to an end, to resuming the difficult task of building a sustainable peace.\u201d<\/p>\n
This is difficult, he acknowledged, \u201cbut certainly not impossible, with the resilience and power of the Sudanese people.\u201d<\/p>\n