UN experts call for peacekeepers to protect civilians in Sudan

The warring parties in Sudan have committed appalling human rights violations, international crimes and possibly war crimes, according to a new report by the UN’s Independent International Fact-Finding Mission for Sudan. Experts call for the deployment of an “independent and impartial force" to safeguard civilians.

The UN Independent International Fact-Finding Mission for Sudan, a United Nations backed human rights mission, on Friday called for an "independent and impartial" peacekeeping force to protect civilians during the country's ongoing civil war. In a new report based on interviews with witnesses, the investigators accused both warring parties - the Sudanese Armed Forces (SAF) and the paramilitary Rapid Support Forces (RSF) - of abuses, including the torture, mutilation and murder of civilians.

"The gravity of these findings underscores the urgent and immediate need for action to protect civilians," said Mohamed Chande Othman, chair of the mission, which established by the UN Human Rights Council in October 2023, six months into Sudan's ongoing civil war.

The mission also called for the expansion of an existing UN arms embargo, which currently only applies to the western region of Darfur. Thousands of ethnic killings have been reported there.

The conflict in Sudan has already resulted in tens of thousands of deaths, with parts of Darfur experiencing severe famine. Over half of the population requires immediate humanitarian aid, and more than 10 million people have been displaced, the majority within the country.

A few weeks ago, the United States, along with Saudi Arabia and Switzerland, hosted ceasefire talks in Geneva. Though unsuccessful, mediators said they had secured guarantees from both parties to improve access for humanitarian aid. 

^{A camp run by the United Nations Refugee Agency (UNHCR) in Sudan's border town of Gallabat © AFP}