Volker Türk briefed journalists in the Kenyan capital following a five-day mission to Sudan, where “a chronicle of cruelty is unfolding before our very eyes”.

He called on “all those who have any influence, including regional actors and notably those who supply the arms and benefit economically from this war” to act urgently to bring it to an end.

Mr. Türk last visited Sudan in November 2022.  Back then, he was deeply inspired by civil society—particularly the young people and women who spearheaded the 2018 revolution.

Salute to the people’s struggle for peace 

While the war between the Sudanese Armed Forces (SAF) and the Rapid Support Forces (RSF) “has plunged the country into an abyss of unfathomable proportions” – affecting the entire nation and all its people – “the spirit of the struggle for peace, justice and freedom…is not broken,” he affirmed.

“I bore witness in Sudan to the trauma of the unspeakable brutality that people have suffered – but also to the resilience and defiance of the human spirit.”

Mr. Türk met with various sectors of society, including young people who organise and deliver aid to their communities “often in the face of massive bureaucratic hurdles, risking detention and violence.”

As one volunteer told him, “The 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.”

End ‘intolerable attacks’ on infrastructure

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.  

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.

He called for both warring parties to “cease intolerable attacks against civilian objects that are indispensable to the civilian population, including markets, health facilities, schools and shelters.”

Mr. Türk 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’t smile.

“One 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 – in vain – to shield her son.”

Women’s bodies ‘weaponized’

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.

“They hit her, took me and told me to keep quiet or they will kill my mother. Then what happened…happened. My period has not come since then,” she told Mr. Türk.

In Sudan, “women and girls’ bodies have been weaponized,” he said. Sexual violence is being used as a weapon of war – also a war crime – and it is widespread and systematic.

The UN rights chief also heard accounts of widespread summary executions. He underlined that all parties to the conflict “have 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.”

Concern for the Kordofan region

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.

He deplored the proliferation of advanced military equipment across Sudan, particularly drones, saying “it is despicable that large sums of money are being spent on procuring increasingly advanced weaponry – funds that should be used to alleviate the suffering of the population.”

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 children. Civil society and journalists are also facing restrictions or being targeted through smear campaigns.

Focus on the Sudanese people

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.

“Measures, such as humane treatment of detainees, accounting for and establishing the fate of missing persons, and releasing civilians detained for alleged ‘collaboration’ with the opposing party are also priority areas,” he added.

Mr. Türk repeated the plea that he made when he last visited Sudan.

“I 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,” he said.

“Again, 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.”

This is difficult, he acknowledged, “but certainly not impossible, with the resilience and power of the Sudanese people.”

*Name changed for protection purposes.