“We can only expect worse to come” unless action is taken to stop the violence, Mr. Türk told Member States at the Human Rights Council in Geneva, renewing his call for the extension of an arms embargo from Darfur to the whole of Sudan.
Rival forces from the national army and Rapid Support Forces (RSF) militia have been fighting for control of the country for nearly three years.
Action is needed to address the “continuous inflow of weapons,” the High Commissioner for Human Rights insisted, after sharing testimonies from survivors of atrocities in El Fasher, North Darfur’s capital, by the paramilitary RSF who took over the city last October.
Mass killings
“In one horrific example, people who fled to separate locations, thousands of kilometers apart, gave consistent accounts of the mass killing of hundreds of people sheltering at El Fasher University,” he said, providing convincing evidence that some victims were targeted based on their non-Arab ethnicity, particularly the Zaghawa ethnic group.
“Survivors also described seeing piles of dead bodies along roads leading away from El Fasher, in an apocalyptic scene that one person likened to the Day of Judgment,” the High Commissioner added, echoing the International Criminal Court’s (ICC) conclusion last month that war crimes and crimes against humanity occurred in El-Fasher, related to the RSF’s siege.
“Our own findings are fully consistent” with that ICC assessment, Mr. Türk reported to the Human Rights Council during a meeting focused on the Sudan crisis.
Dire warnings
Previously, the UN rights chief highlighted that his office warned about past atrocity crimes such as the RSF attack to seize Zamzam camp for displaced people in April 2025.
“Responsibility for these atrocity crimes lies squarely with the RSF and their allies and supporters,” he stated.
The war in Sudan began in April 2023, after a power-sharing agreement broke down in the resource-rich central African nation between the Sudanese Armed Forces (SAF) and the RSF.
The resulting humanitarian emergency has affected over 30 million people in Sudan; many have experienced repeated displacement, while others have been affected by famine and systematic sexual violence, including gang rape.
As the fighting continues from Darfur in the west to the central Kordofan regions, there is fear of further grave abuses, including by “advanced drone weaponry systems used by both sides,” Mr. Türk warned.
Deadly drone war
“In the last two weeks, the SAF and allied Joint Forces broke the sieges on Kadugli and Dilling,” the High Commissioner said. “But drone strikes by both sides persist, causing dozens of civilian deaths and injuries.
Civilians are at risk of summary executions, sexual violence, arbitrary detention, and family separation.”
Mediation measures
In an effort to prevent further bloodshed, the High Commissioner announced a series of measures “to support mediation efforts” and reduce violence.
These include commitments not to target civilians or residential areas with explosive weapons, to allow the unimpeded delivery of humanitarian aid, to end arbitrary detention and stop attacks on civilian infrastructure.
“I saw the damage caused by RSF attacks on Merowe dam and hydroelectric power station, which once provided 70 percent of Sudan’s electricity. Repeated drone strikes have disrupted power and water supplies to large numbers of people, significantly impacting healthcare,” he said.
Leave a Reply