Photo:Hind Mekki (Flicker)
In response to the gross and systematic human rights violations occurring in Sudan, ISHR joined a group of civil society organisations urging UN Human Rights Council Member States to urgently hold a Special Session on the human rights situation in Sudan.
Since 3 June, Rapid Security Forces, riot police and national security officers violently dispersed peaceful protestors in Khartoum as well as in different cities across Sudan. The MENA Women Human Rights Defenders’ Coalition reported that at least 113 people have died including women human rights defenders. Civil society documented cases of rape, attacks on hospitals, with hundreds injured and missing. The Transitional Military Council is enforcing a ban on communication causing an internet black out. The High Commissioner has deplored the killings and proposed ” the rapid deployment of a UN human rights monitoring team” to Sudan.
ISHR’s Human Rights Council advcate Salma El Hosseiny said that the current crisis in Sudan was exactly why the Council is mandated to convene special sessions: to respond promptly to human rights emergencies and prevent the human rights situation from further deteriorating.
“The UN top’s human rights body must act now before it’s too late. It should establish an international fact-finding mission to document violations, identify perpetrators and push for accountability”, said El Hosseiny.
The African Union has taken action and issued a decision to “suspend, with immediate effect, the participation of the Republic of Sudan in all African Union’s activities until the effective establishment of a civilian-led Transitional Authority, as the only way to allow the Sudan to exit from its current crisis”. Representatives of African members of the UN Security Council and the African Union condemned the violence and called for an investigation and accountability.
“The Council’s urgent action will not only recognise and support African Union initiatives and ongoing efforts to bring the violence to an end and advance accountability, but also help the Sudanese people in their peaceful struggle to make freedom, peace and social justice a reality for all”, added El Hosseiny.
On 10 May 2023, the African Commission on Human and Peoples’ Rights (the Commission) held a panel aiming to discuss ways to realise States’ obligations regarding the production of ESCR data and its use in policy-making, as well as how the Commission could work with States in realising them.
The African Commission on Human and Peoples’ Rights (the African Commission) examined the combined 12th to 15th periodic reports of the Republic of Senegal during its public session held from 3 to 13 May 2023 in Banjul, The Gambia. The report presents the progress made by Senegal to effectively implement the African Charter between 2015 and 2022.
During the 75th session of the African Commission, ISHR delivered a statement on the situation of human rights defenders in Africa. The aim was to highlight the impact of anti-constitutional changes of government on the rights of human rights defenders and to call on the Focal Point on Reprisals to publish his first report.
