Following Human Rights Council resolution... Specialists call for t a special war crimes tribunal in the Sudan
Report - Moatinoon
Sudans representatives to the Human Rights Council in Geneva failed to mobilize enough States to prevent a decision by the Council to establish an international fact-finding commission on violations in the country since the outbreak of the war between the Sudanese Armed Forces and the Rapid Support Forces.
Sudanese human rights parties welcomed the move and viewed it as moving towards the establishment of a commission with full powers by the Security Council, while specialists called for the establishment of an international war crimes tribunal in the Sudan.
On Wednesday, the Human Rights Council adopted a resolution establishing an independent international fact-finding mission on the situation in the Sudan. The resolution stressed the urgent need to investigate who committed human rights violations and where they occurred.
19 States voted in favour of the resolution, which was submitted by the United Kingdom, the United States and Norway, 16 against and 12 abstentions.
Special Court
Hatem Elias, a lawyer and specialist in international relations, considered that the Human Rights Councils resolution had no real values and added that the Council was a marginal agency and did not express the satisfaction of genuine international actors in international relations such as the United States and Western States. He added that the Council had failed to issue statements condemning human rights violations against Cuba, China, Iran and the United States itself. Western States believed that the Council was outside their control of the blocs situation and equal votes within it. On the other hand, the Councils decisions were not one day reflected in the recommendations of the United Nations or Security Council resolutions, so the celebration of its decision is a great deal of naivety.
We must strongly call upon the Security Council to establish a special war crimes tribunal in the Sudan as it did in the assassination of Hariri or the war crimes tribunal in Yugoslavia. Following the establishment of the International Criminal Court, the Security Council or the General Assembly of the United Nations should establish a Commission of Inquiry on War Crimes in the Sudan and Violations and transmit the Courts investigative order. The Human Rights Councils Commission of Inquiry was, however, a move from a good United Nations agency in any case on the one hand, but it was unhelpful”, said Elias.
The Darfur Lawyers Association welcomed the adoption by the United Nations Human Rights Council of a draft resolution establishing a truth commission on war crimes and crimes against humanity committed in the Sudan during the ongoing war. In a statement issued today, she said that the move would prepare the ground for the United Nations Security Councils adoption of a draft resolution establishing a truth commission with full powers and referring the results of the investigation to the International Criminal Court.
The Association announced its full willingness to cooperate with any body authorized under international humanitarian law to prosecute war crimes and crimes against humanity and prevent impunity.
For its part, the Emergency Lawyers Group welcomed the approval by the United Nations Human Rights Council of the establishment of a fact-finding commission on the widespread human rights violations committed since the outbreak of the ruin on 15 April.
Journalist and writer Wail Mahjoub viewed the vote in favour of the draft resolution establishing the Committee as a major victory for civilian victims of war, adding in a Facebook post that the war was now under way in unprecedented patterns of crimes against humanity, catastrophic and grave breaches of the law and human rights principles enshrined in the Charter of the United Nations.
Backstage Decision Making
The discussion of the draft resolution began with informal meetings, which showed the blocs supporting and rejecting the resolution. According to press reports, the Sudanese Observatory for Human Rights said that the representative of the Permanent Representative of the United Kingdom had chaired a meeting in the presence of representatives of more than 40 States and 8 non-governmental organizations, and all paragraphs of the draft resolution had been reviewed.
The meeting heard public interventions on the part of the Sudan, Egypt, Libya, Saudi Arabia, Iraq, Algeria, Tunisia, the United Arab Emirates, Qatar, Bahrain and Saudi Arabia (on behalf of the Arab States), Ethiopia, Eritrea, Côte dIvoire (on behalf of the African Group), as well as Pakistan, Luxembourg. Amnesty International and the International Centre for Human Rights, Human Rights Watch, participated in defending defenders.
The United Kingdom regretted that the human rights situation in the Sudan had deteriorated after the Sudanese revolution. The independent experts mandate was terminated in October 2020, and added that the Sudan had finally emerged from the Human Rights Council agenda a year later, just three weeks before the coup d état, which overthrew the transitional government on October 25, 2021.
The resolution noted that the coup d état had led to a deterioration in the situation in the country. War , especially in the field of human rights, until the outbreak of war in mid-April the situation in the Sudan requires the Councils action. to end impunity and hold accountable those responsible for human rights violations and post-war atrocities, They requested States support for the draft resolution despite the opposition of a group of States.
The representative of the Sudan reiterated his countrys rejection of the draft resolution, noting that it ignored efforts to silence guns and did not take into account the existence of other mechanisms, which had been following the situation for two years with the full cooperation of his Government. Representatives of the Arab States, Pakistan, Russia and China supported the position of the representative of the Sudan.
In contrast, during informal consultations, Western States and non-governmental organizations called for the adoption of a strong resolution condemning violations and establishing an investigative and fact-finding mechanism to prevent impunity and hold accountable those involved in violations.
Prior to the adoption of the resolution, rights organizations stressed the need for the Councils member States to adopt the draft resolution establishing a fact-finding mission and to investigate war crimes and violations in the Sudan.
Human Rights Watch said that the members of the Human Rights Council had an opportunity and a responsibility to use their vote to send a message of deterrence to the warring parties in the Sudan and, more importantly, to solidarity with the people of the Sudan and to give hope to survivors, victims and their families.
Members and functions of the Mission
In accordance with the resolution adopted by the Human Rights Council, the Mission consists of three members with expertise in international human rights and humanitarian law, to be appointed as soon as possible by the President of the Human Rights Council for an initial term of one year.
As mandated, UNMIS will investigate and establish the facts, circumstances and root causes of all allegations of human rights violations, abuses, violations of international humanitarian law -- including those committed against refugees -- and related crimes in the context of the ongoing armed conflict that began on 15 April 2023 between the Sudanese Armed Forces and the Rapid Support Forces, as well as other belligerents.
Individuals and entities responsible for violations or other related crimes in the Sudan will also be identified with a view to ensuring that those responsible are held accountable. It makes recommendations, in particular on accountability measures, with a view to ending impunity and addressing its root causes, and ensuring accountability, including, as appropriate, individual criminal responsibility and victims access to justice.
The resolution called on the parties to the conflict to cooperate fully with the Fact-Finding Mission in its work and on the international community to provide full support to the Mission in the implementation of its mandate.
