Sudan: Protect civilians, end war crimes against them

Sudanese people have endured some of the most violent months since the war erupted on 15 April 2023. In eastern Al Jazeera, local activists estimated over 500 civilians were killed within the last 10 days. Concurrently, at least 100 people were killed or injured in Khartoum, with dozens more fatalities in Darfur. Last month, reported cases of conflict-related sexual violence (CRSV) skyrocketed.

On 21 October 2024, Rapid Support Forces (RSF) militias initiated a scorched earth campaign in Eastern Al Jazeera, central Sudan. Tens of thousands of civilians were forced to flee their villages as their homes were looted, farms burned, and dozens of women and girls were raped or abducted. Hundreds of men and boys were slaughtered, and dozens detained. These retaliation attacks followed a mid-October deal between the RSF leader in Al Jazeera and the Sudanese Armed Forces (SAF). RSF ethnically targeted civilians from the Shukrya tribe and relatives of the defected leader. Dozens of villages became large prisons for civilians, who were prevented from leaving their homes. The fear from the violence on the roads forced thousands to take refuge in their homes without access to food or healthcare. In Alhelalya village, thousands of people have been detained inside mosques for two weeks, where at least 20 deaths were confirmed, including women and children. The villages of eastern Al Jazeera witnessed a surge of sexual violence and extrajudicial killings since 23 October 2024. 

‘I saw women coming from Eastern Al Jazeera who had just arrived at the River Nile state, they were on the road for 7 days. At least 3 women said they were raped. One of them had to be carried by her relatives as she was unable to walk as she needed urgent medical care’, said a witness who received survivors at the River Nile state. Thousands of internally displaced persons fled eastern Al Jazeera to Halfa Aljadeda of Algadrif state, while others took longer routes to Northern states. At least three nurses were abducted by RSF from Rofaa hospital, according to local monitors. 

In Khartoum, civilians were caught in the crossfire between both warring parties. RSF shelling killed dozens of civilians in Omdurman in October, causing the death of a six-year-old girl and eight children were injured on 23 October 2024. SAF’s indiscriminate bombardment in Janob Alhizam, south of Khartoum, killed more than 100 civilians in October 2024 as well. Specifically, on 21 October 2024, 29 people, including four women and eleven children, were killed by a SAF airstrike in a market area one kilometer away from Bashir Hospital in Janob Alhizam. Both parties targeted populated markets, resulting in high numbers of civilian casualties.

Tens of thousands of civilians in Khartoum, Al Jazeera, Kordofan, and Darfur are living under siege by RSF forces, unable to access food or healthcare. In the Samrab area of North Khartoum, 144 people died of dengue fever within two weeks. This siege is preventing people from leaving, while SAF obstructs the delivery of medical supplies. Restrictions on aid movement exacerbate the suffering of civilians in conflict zones. Famine and spread of various diseases are killing people across Sudan on an hourly basis, which is highly underreported and neglected. Interruptions in communication hinder local activists’ ability to document and monitor war crimes in Sudan. 

The international community must fulfill its obligation to protect civilians facing war crimes. According to the Rome Statute of the International Criminal Court, ‘war crimes’ include ‘intentionally directing attacks against the civilian population as such or against individual civilians not taking direct part in hostilities.’ Additionally, the Geneva Convention states that ‘the wounded and sick shall be respected and protected in all circumstances.’ Fighting parties in Sudan must be held accountable for their violations of international law. 

The UN Fact-Finding Mission highlighted the imperatives of protecting civilians in Sudan, concluding that ‘there are reasonable grounds to believe that these acts amount to war crimes and crimes against humanity, including of torture, rape, sexual slavery, and persecution on intersecting ethnic and gender grounds’.

We the undersigned groups and organisations call for:

1. An immediate and permanent ceasefire in all Sudanese states
2. Immediate implementation of the recommendations highlighted in the report of the independent fact finding mission (FFM), including the immediate establishment of an office for reparations and various kinds of support, including for CRSV victims and survivors, in addition to the compliance of ‘all states and entities… with the existing arms embargo in Darfur pursuant to Security Council Resolution 1556 (2004) and subsequent resolutions.’
3. With the solid documentation of the independent FFM of various war crimes and crimes against international humanitarian law and human rights law, including and not limited to torture, kidnapping, rape, killing, arbitrary detention, blockage of aid, etc., immediate steps must be taken by international mechanisms including the International Criminal Court, African Commission for Peoples’ and Human Rights (ACPHR) and the UN to ensure accountability for both warring parties (SAF and RSF), in addition to States providing them with arms used against civilians
4. The gap in humanitarian aid funding must be immediately addressed to respond to the famine killing thousands in Sudanese states, and address medical services for various current pandemics and emergency and comprehensive dignity kits for women, in addition to medical services necessary for rapes perpetrated and resulting pregnancies, such as access to safe abortion
5. The situation of women refugees in camps on borders of neighboring countries such as Chad must be immediately addressed to include the provision of abundant dignity kits.

Signatories:

1. Sudanese Women Rights Action (SUWRA)
2. The Regional Coalition for Women Human Rights Defenders in South West Asia and North Africa (WHRDMENA)
3. Governance Programming Overseas
4. Sudan’s Doctors for Human Rights
5. Nora Center for Combating Sexual Violence
6. International Service for Human Rights