Euro-Med Human Rights Monitor: Intl. community’s ongoing inaction in the face of daily atrocities and massacres must end
moatinoon
The international community’s ongoing refusal to address the daily atrocities and massacres that are being documented in Sudan must end. The bloody conflict has resulted in horrifying numbers of human casualties and the greatest internal displacement waves in history, and there will be further disastrous effects if the international community fails to take serious and decisive action to halt the widespread, deliberate, and indiscriminate attacks that civilians in Sudan are subjected to.
This action should include holding accountable the parties involved in the 14-month conflict—which, according to the United Nations, has resulted in about 15,000 deaths and 10 million displaced people.
Most recently, the village of Wad Al-Noura in Al-Jazira State was attacked by the Rapid Support Forces (RSF) using light, medium, and heavy weapons, including anti-aircraft guns. The attack has resulted in the deaths of over 120 people, according to multiple reports. A strict siege had been imposed on Wad Al-Noura since Wednesday morning; the RSF then attempted to storm the village in an effort to seize control of it, resulting in the forced evacuation of the village’s residents and the deaths and injuries of hundreds of people.
At the same time as dozens of the attack’s victims were being buried in a mass funeral, a video began circulating on social media showing members of RSF opening heavy fire on the village.
The incident adds to the near-daily string of crimes committed in Sudan, with violent clashes between the RSF and the Sudanese army currently occurring in the southern White Nile region, the western state of North Darfur, and the states of Khartoum and Al-Jazira in the country’s centre.
Since the start of the ongoing conflict in Sudan in April 2023, the warring parties have been found to have committed numerous crimes in the country. These crimes may qualify as war crimes and crimes against humanity under the Rome Statute of the International Criminal Court, which has limited jurisdiction over conflicts within Sudan.
An effective international mechanism is required to ensure that those responsible for the horrific crimes committed against civilians in Sudan are held accountable, and that the principle of non-impunity is implemented.
All relevant international parties and institutions, including the UN Security Council, should refrain from making statements that simply denounce the violence. They should instead focus on condemning specific actions, in order to remind all parties to the conflict that they are required by international law to cease waging war on civilians without cause, and to permit safe and unimpeded access to humanitarian aid.
While millions of people are facing the possibility of the worst famine in decades, there is a simultaneous steady rise in the number of massacres, killings, and civilians being displaced.
The severe lack of basic foodstuffs and the more than four-fold increase in prices are making the humanitarian situation in most parts of Sudan extremely dangerous, especially at a time when the warring parties are actively working to block the entry of relief supplies into the areas they control.
Out of the 49 million people living in Sudan, approximately 18 million are estimated by the UN Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs to be experiencing “high levels of acute food insecurity” and are in danger of starvation, which could kill 10s of thousands of people in a matter of mere months.
Lack of hope for a political settlement and real international action heralds the start of the world’s worst food crisis in decades, aggravating the world’s worst displacement crisis at a time when the nation’s unemployment rate is surging to an all-time high and its banking system is collapsing.
The conflicting parties are responsible for the deteriorating humanitarian conditions, as they are persistently breaking international humanitarian laws; despite constantly claiming to be trying to hold those who break the law accountable, they have not taken any concrete action on the ground to improve the situation themselves.
The international community must end military operations and respect the will of the Sudanese people by promptly forcing the perpetrating parties in Sudan to cease their violations of international humanitarian law and international human rights law; prosecuting those responsible; bringing justice to all victims; and creating safe corridors for humanitarian aid to reach vulnerable civilians.
