The United Nations Human Rights Council (UNHRC) unanimously adopted a resolution on Friday to establish a fact-finding mission to investigate alleged human rights violations in Al-Fashir, the capital of North Darfur state. The city has been under the control of the Rapid Support Forces (RSF).
During a special session held in Geneva addressing the situation in Al-Fashir, which the RSF seized in October, the resolution was approved without a vote, signaling strong international support for the initiative. The UNHRC has mandated the investigators to identify those responsible for the alleged atrocities committed in Al-Fashir, with the aim of bringing them to justice.
UN High Commissioner for Human Rights, Volker Türk, warned that the atrocities in Al-Fashir represent “the most serious crimes imaginable” and were preventable. He added that the RSF’s control has been followed by ethnically motivated executions, abductions, arbitrary detentions, and repeated attacks on medical facilities, describing the situation as “shocking atrocities.”
Mona Rishmawi, a member of the UN International Independent Fact-Finding Mission for Sudan, cited examples of killings and torture, emphasizing the need for a comprehensive investigation to fully understand the extent of the violations. She stated that the RSF had “turned the University of Al-Fashir into a killing field” where thousands of civilians had sought refuge. Rishmawi added that “witnesses also said they saw bodies piled in the streets and in trenches dug in and around the city.”
The United Kingdom, the European Union, Norway, and Ghana expressed their support for the resolution, strongly condemning the violence in Sudan. Al-Fashir was seized by the RSF on October 26, with reports from local and international organizations alleging massacres against civilians.
Since April 2023, Sudan has been gripped by conflict between the army and the RSF, resulting in the deaths of tens of thousands and the displacement of approximately 12 million people. This has exacerbated a humanitarian crisis described as one of the worst globally.
