Position Paper | September 7, 2025 – Sudan
The Sudan Rights Watch Network expresses its broad and profound welcome of the report of the UN Human Rights Council Fact-Finding Mission, which sheds light on the grave human rights violations in Sudan. The Network considers the report to be an unequivocal condemnation of all the brutal and horrific acts that continue to be committed against civilians in the country. The Network encourages the need to address such findings with care, seriousness, and decisive responsibility, and to strive to implement the recommendations urgently and effectively.
The findings of the latest report of the Independent International Fact-Finding Mission on Sudan indicate that the armed conflict raging in the country since April 2023 has crossed all the red lines of international humanitarian and human rights law. The report confirms, with evidence and field testimonies, that the Rapid Support Forces and the Sudanese Armed Forces have pursued systematic strategies to target civilians, including mass killings, forced displacement, widespread destruction of vital infrastructure, and the use of starvation as a weapon of war. These violations, in their scale and pattern, place these patterns of violence in a dangerous legal context that amounts to war crimes and crimes against humanity, and may even amount to genocide, which is a crime against humanity. For the Sudan Rights Watch Network, the picture is even clearer in the tragedy in and around El Fasher, where, according to the report, “War of Atrocities: Deliberate Targeting of Civilians in Sudan,” the Rapid Support Forces and their allies committed mass killings, rapes, and forced displacement targeting non-Arab communities on ethnic, social, and political grounds, such as the Fur, Zaghawa, Masalit, and Tunjur. The massacre in Zamzam camp last April, which claimed the lives of between 300 and 1,500 civilians, mostly women and children, exemplifies the clearest example of the systematic use of ethnic violence as a weapon of war. In contrast, the Sudanese Armed Forces and their allies committed the same violations, including targeting the Al-Kanabi community in Al-Jazirah, confirming that both parties to the conflict share full responsibility for the current humanitarian and human rights catastrophe. According to the report, Mohamed Chandi Osman, head of the fact-finding mission, said: “The findings of our investigations leave no doubt that civilians are paying the heaviest price in this war. Both sides are deliberately targeting civilians through attacks, summary executions, arbitrary detention, torture, and inhumane treatment in detention facilities, including denial of food, sanitation, and medical care.” The mission head added: “These tragedies were not accidental, but rather deliberate strategies that amount to war crimes. The Rapid Support Forces have committed crimes against humanity, including murder, sexual and gender-based violence, looting, and widespread destruction of livelihoods, sometimes amounting to persecution and genocide.”
These violations are reflected in shocking figures: more than 12 million people displaced, half the population facing severe food insecurity, and three-quarters of health facilities in the most affected areas have ceased operating. The systematic attacks against humanitarian convoys and aid workers, which have killed 84 Sudanese workers in just two years, represent a dangerous escalation of the criminalization of humanitarian work and the starvation of communities. These practices place Sudan in one of the world’s worst humanitarian crises, as described in the report.
The report also highlights the structural dimension of the crisis, represented by the lack of internal accountability and the persistence of a culture of impunity. Existing judicial and security institutions are unable or unwilling to investigate seriously, contributing to the perpetuation of selective justice and impunity for perpetrators. This vicious cycle not only perpetuates violence and violations but also entrenches the disintegration of the state and the loss of victims’ confidence in justice.
From this perspective, international action is not a tactical option but a strategic necessity. The report clearly recommended imposing an effective arms embargo, supporting the International Criminal Court (ICC), establishing an independent judicial mechanism for Sudan, and utilizing universal jurisdiction. These recommendations are not merely legal tools; they represent the minimum to protect civilians and break the cycle of impunity. Any international inaction in this context constitutes not only a betrayal of the Sudanese people, but also undermines the credibility of the international legal system as a whole.
The network notes that, for Sudanese human rights and humanitarian organizations operating in the country, the report provides a strong platform to strengthen their human rights and political discourse at the national and international levels. A dual approach is required: pressuring the international community for urgent and decisive action, while simultaneously working to document crimes locally, protect survivors and witnesses, and amplify the voices of victims. These networks should also prioritize confronting the ethnic and social divisions exploited by both parties to the conflict, through an inclusive human rights discourse focused on justice and equal citizenship.
The Human Rights Monitoring Network – Sudan’s position assessment emphasizes that the current situation in Sudan requires urgent, multi-level intervention: legal, political, and humanitarian, nationally, regionally, and internationally. The absence of accountability and the abandonment of civilians to the mercy of systematic military strategies deepen social collapse and threaten to perpetuate a cycle of targeting, persecution, genocide, and violence for decades to come. Justice is not merely a subsequent path to peace; it is an existential condition for any future political process. Any delay or inaction will only mean more bloodshed, collapse, and the senseless killing of civilians.
Recommendations and Suggestions:
In addressing the current challenges in Sudan, the Sudan Rights Watch Network emphasizes and recommends the adoption of a set of practical recommendations that strengthen advocacy efforts, justice, and victim protection, most notably:
First: At the international advocacy level, the report should be used as a reference document to garner support at the Human Rights Council, the United Nations General Assembly, the African Union, and others. This also requires lobbying for the establishment of an international judicial mechanism for Sudan, similar to the experiences of the former Yugoslavia, and pushing for a binding arms embargo and expanding targeted sanctions against military leaders and their supporting entities.
Second: In the area of legal processes, the importance of supporting the efforts of the International Criminal Court by submitting documented files and victim testimonies is highlighted. In addition, the principle of universal jurisdiction can be activated in cooperation with human rights organizations and international lawyer networks to file cases before influential regional and international European courts. It also requires the development of a protected national database to document violations in accordance with international standards, including chains of custody, structured interviews, and digital evidence.
Third: Regarding the protection of survivors and witnesses, there is a need to establish emergency programs to support all categories of victims, particularly women and girls who have survived sexual violence. These programs include medical and psychological care, while ensuring confidentiality and dignity. Initiatives should also be launched to provide legal and community support to former detainees and victims’ families, along with providing safe platforms for victims to express their testimonies and utilize them in regional and international advocacy efforts.
Fourth: At the local community level, it is essential to counter inflammatory ethnic rhetoric with a comprehensive human rights discourse focused on justice and equality. This requires strengthening civil society networks across the country to enhance resilience and combat forced displacement, as well as launching local media campaigns that document violations in simple language to raise community awareness of the dangers of impunity.
Fifth: In the area of partnerships and alliances, alliances should be built with regional and international organizations such as Human Rights Watch, Amnesty International, FIDH, and others. This also requires cooperation with UN agencies to ensure safe humanitarian corridors and the protection of relief workers, in addition to coordination with Sudanese communities abroad to leverage their political and media influence in diaspora countries.
The Sudan Rights Watch Network’s assessment of the situation concludes that the recent UN report of the Commission of Inquiry on Sudan should not be read as a mere condemnation or a media project paper, but rather as a strategic opportunity to unify Sudanese human rights efforts with regional and international ones around a clear agenda: immediate and strategic accountability, urgent protection of civilians, monitoring and documenting violations with evidence and testimonies, and dismantling the system of impunity. The network emphasizes that any procrastination or fragmentation in dealing with this critical and decisive moment will mean leaving millions of Sudanese civilians hostage to a war of atrocities, genocide, and societal collapse. The network points out that justice is not a postponed option until after peace, but rather an existential condition for building any possible peace.
Sudan Rights Watch Network
September 7, 2025, Sudan