European and International Human Rights Organizations Call on the European Union to Protect Civilians in Sudan

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Major human rights organizations and European Union foreign ministers have called for the adoption of a strategy that allows for the use of all available tools to achieve justice and accountability in Sudan, and the enforcement and expansion of the current arms embargo on Darfur to include other parts of Sudan.

In a statement on the Amnesty International website two days ago, 11 organizations commemorated one year since the war in Sudan and urged EU member states to support the UN International Fact-Finding Mission on Sudan politically and financially, as well as to support the International Criminal Court Prosecutors Office in investigating ongoing violations in Darfur.

They emphasized the need to increase funding for humanitarian aid and ensure its delivery to those in need without obstacles, to work towards ending attacks on civilians and civilian infrastructure, to end deliberate obstruction of aid, and to seize the opportunity of the Paris Conference to call on parties to the conflict to ensure unimpeded access to humanitarian aid.

The European Union was urged to include Sudanese human rights defenders and civil society organizations, including in emergency rooms, in any peace process, to end internet shutdowns, protect human rights defenders, activists, and journalists in exile, and ensure their long-term support so they can continue their work, and to provide safe and regular pathways for displaced Sudanese to Europe and refrain from forcibly returning anyone to Sudan.

The following organizations signed the statement:

Amnesty International, Brot für die Welt (Germany), Cairo Institute for Human Rights Studies (CIHRS), Christian Solidarity Worldwide, Finn Church Aid, Free Press Unlimited, Front Line Defenders, Human Rights Watch, International Federation for Human Rights (FIDH), International Service for Human Rights, Protection International.