Statement by foreign ministers of the Sudan Core Group at the
Human Rights' Council:
The Foreign Ministers of the Sudan Core Group at the Human
Rights' Council – Germany, Ireland, the Netherlands, Norway, and
the United Kingdom – express our collective outrage and profound
sorrow at the findings of the Fact-Finding Mission's report on El
Fasher.
The report speaks of the heinous acts committed by the RSF during
their 18-month siege of El Fasher with food and humanitarian
supply routes systematically obstructed and markets attacked. It
describes attacks on medical facilities and critical
infrastructure, and the trapping of civilians to prevent escape.
The conditions became so challenging, starving inhabitants
resorted to eating livestock feed to survive.
The report details the final offensive on El Fasher, describing
how the RSF executed civilians throughout the city and turned El
Fasher University and the El-Saudi Hospital into mass killing
sites. Witnesses describe being told “we will exterminate you”,
and of pregnant women being shot in their bellies. Civilians were
massacred as they tried to escape the city. It provides shocking
testimony of women and girls who suffered horrific sexual and
gender-based violence, including gang rape.
The report sets out horrendous violence which was aimed primarily
at the Fur and Zaghawa communities, as part of what the FFM
assessed to be the deliberate attempt to bring about the
“physical destruction” of these communities, “in whole or in
part”. The FFM concludes that RSF led violence in El Fasher
constitutes War Crimes and Crimes Against Humanity, and bears
“the hallmarks of genocide”.
The International Criminal Court and the High Commissioner for
Human Rights have also communicated that their initial
assessments indicate that crimes against humanity and war crimes
were committed in El Fasher.
The report concludes that in the absence of effective prevention
and accountability, “the risk of further genocidal violence
remains acute”. We, the international community, must redouble
our efforts to prevent a repeat of the atrocities committed in El
Fasher, and the Sudan Core Group calls on the parties to the
conflict to uphold their obligations under international
humanitarian and human rights law. We implore all states to
consider closely the important recommendations the report lays
out: Civilians must be protected; the UN arms embargo must be
expanded and enforced; and restrictions of humanitarian access
and accountability mechanisms must end.
The Sudan Core Group commends the FFM for it's vital work in
exposing the horrors that took place in El Fasher, and beyond.
The scale and depravity of the horrors described should shock the
conscience of us all.
The Sudan Core Group expresses its deep and enduring solidarity
for the victims of atrocities in Sudan.
Furthermore, the warring parties must urgently agree an immediate
and sustainable ceasefire, allow unfettered humanitarian access,
cease from violating International Humanitarian Law and ensure
the protection of civilians.
The Sudan Core Group calls on the warring parties to the conflict
to provide full access for further international justice
mechanisms, to affected areas and populations.
This report is a call to action. In response – the Sudan Core
Group announces its intention to establish a coalition of
likeminded states and regional institutions committed to working
together to prevent further atrocities in Sudan and support the
Sudanese people to lay the foundations for eventual justice. They
have waited long enough.
