To all Sudanese Authorities and Regional and International Bodies
To all Human Rights and Relief Organizations and Entities
To the Sudanese, Regional, and International Public Opinion
Sudan Rights Watch Network expresses its deep concern over the worsening humanitarian disaster in North Darfur State, western Sudan, where hunger has reached catastrophic levels, threatening a complete collapse of human life. Vast areas, particularly displacement camps such as Abu Shouk and Zamzam, and camps in the Tawila area and other scattered areas, have entered a state of de facto famine. Food supplies are almost completely unavailable, even in markets, and humanitarian aid flows are completely paralyzed. This is due to the deliberate obstruction of humanitarian access by the parties to the conflict, particularly the Rapid Support Forces, since their siege of the state for more than a year and a half.
Reliable field reports indicate an alarming increase in the number of deaths resulting from starvation and acute malnutrition, particularly among children, women, and the elderly. In the absence of food, drinking water, and the collapse of health services, thousands of families are left to face a slow and cruel death, without access to the bare necessities of life. Reports indicate that at least four people die each week from starvation, with the price of a sack of millet exceeding 4 million Sudanese pounds.
What is happening in North Darfur is not just a humanitarian crisis; it is a systematic starvation crime that clearly violates international humanitarian law, the Four Geneva Conventions and their Additional Protocols, and disregards fundamental human rights principles. Depriving civilians of food and medicine and preventing humanitarian aid from reaching them constitutes a war crime that must be investigated, and anyone proven to be involved, whether by action or by silence, must be held accountable.
Sudan Rights Watch Network strongly condemns the shameful international and regional silence and warns that the continuation of this situation will exacerbate a comprehensive humanitarian catastrophe that is difficult to contain and whose signs are already evident on the ground. The responsibility to protect civilians and ensure access to relief is not a political choice, but rather a legal and moral duty incumbent on the Sudanese authorities and the international and regional community at all levels.
In light of this tragic situation, the network calls for and recommends the following:
- Urgent intervention at all levels is necessary to rescue the situation, which has become unbearable for the population, particularly in displacement camps, where hunger, disease, and thirst are rife.
- Immediately and unconditionally open safe and permanent humanitarian corridors to the state and displacement camps.
- Lifting restrictions on the work of humanitarian organizations, ensuring their independence and depoliticizing their work.
- Conducting an independent international investigation into the use of starvation as a weapon of conflict and holding perpetrators accountable.
- Urgent action by regional and international bodies, such as the Security Council, the United Nations, the African Union, IGAD, and others, to halt the catastrophe and exert pressure on the parties to the conflict.
Sudan Rights Watch Network affirms that starvation in North Darfur is a crime committed in full view of the world, and that remaining silent about it is a betrayal of justice and a stain on humanity.
Sudan Rights Watch Network
Sunday, July 27, 2025