UN council orders urgent probe into El-Fasher atrocities

The UN Human Rights Council has ordered an urgent inquiry into alleged atrocities in and around El-Fasher, condemning escalating violence, ethnically targeted killings, and widespread abuse attributed to the Rapid Support Forces.

The Human Rights Council held its 38th special session on Friday to address the worsening human rights situation in and around El-Fasher, Sudan, adopting without a vote a resolution mandating the Independent International Fact-Finding Mission for the Sudan to investigate recent alleged violations of international law in the region. The decision reflects growing alarm over the scale and severity of violence in a city that has become a focal point of the broader Sudan conflict.

In its resolution, the council strongly condemned the assault on El-Fasher by the Rapid Support Forces and associated groups, denouncing reported atrocities, including ethnically motivated killings, torture, summary executions, and widespread sexual and gender-based violence. The fact-finding mission has been tasked with identifying, where possible, those believed responsible and supporting future accountability mechanisms.

The council requested the UN human rights office to deliver a verbal update on developments before its 61st session. The fact-finding mission will present a full report on its inquiry at that session, followed by an enhanced interactive dialogue, underscoring the urgency with which the UN views the situation.

The special session opened with warnings from senior officials. UN High Commissioner for Human Rights Volker Turk said the unfolding atrocities in El-Fasher were foreseeable and preventable, listing mass killings, ethnically targeted executions, and widespread sexual violence among the reported crimes. Adama Dieng, the African Union’s special envoy on the prevention of genocide and mass atrocities, urged the international community to halt the flow of weapons and fighters into Sudan, saying it is directly fuelling the targeting of specific identity groups.

Mona Rishmawi, representing the fact-finding mission, described much of El-Fasher as a crime scene and referred to evidence of what she called unspeakable atrocities. Throughout the debate, speakers condemned violations attributed to the Rapid Support Forces, called for accountability, and urged an immediate end to the conflict that continues to devastate the region.

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