Six African and international non-governmental organisations, in addition to four Sudanese and international coalitions comprising more than 35 organisations, have revealed a series of serious crimes committed by the Sudanese army and its allied militias.
This revelation came during the 60th session of the UN Human Rights Council, held in Geneva from September 8 to October 8, where organizations made direct accusations of systematic violations against unarmed civilians in various parts of Sudan.
These accusations were presented in 19 official statements, distributed to member states and participants, and published on the Council’s official website. The statements aimed to inform the world of the details of the tragic reality and call for urgent action to halt the violations and hold perpetrators accountable.
The six organizations have special consultative status with the United Nations Economic and Social Council and include: the International African Culture Organization, the Victorious Youth Movement, the One Child One Bag Association in Burkina Faso, the African Unity Association, the African Coordination for Human Rights of Armies, and Zero Poverty in Africa.
These statements were supported by four major alliances: the New Sudan Organizations Union, the Sudanese Human Rights Organizations Alliance, the Future Youth Alliance, and the Euro-Mediterranean Alliance Against Impunity.
The data focused on serious violations that constitute war crimes and crimes against humanity, based on independent field reports and live testimonies from doctors and eyewitnesses. Among the most prominent violations highlighted by the data was the use of internationally banned chemical weapons.
The organizations also documented cases of suffocation and mass poisoning in cities such as Nyala, El Fasher, and Zalingei, where the army fired toxic gas bombs, incendiary devices, and cluster bombs, causing skin burns and severe respiratory injuries among civilians. This constitutes a flagrant violation of the Chemical Weapons Convention and the Geneva Conventions. Doctors reported receiving emergency cases indicating the use of prohibited weapons.
The data also focused on indiscriminate shelling and the deliberate destruction of infrastructure, with the army and its militias launching systematic bombing campaigns against hospitals, schools, and UN headquarters, including UNICEF offices in Al-Abyad and World Food Programme warehouses on the island.
These attacks resulted in the deaths of local and international personnel, disrupted relief operations, and bombed residential neighborhoods and camps, followed by summary executions and widespread torture, in direct violation of international humanitarian law.
Physical violence and gang rape have been described as an organized weapon of war against women and girls in Darfur, Kordofan, and Omdurman. These violations included domestic rape in front of families, sexual slavery, and forced marriage, all aimed at humiliating communities and dismantling the social fabric.
The data also highlighted ethnic cleansing practices, with the army targeting groups such as the Fur, Zaghawa, and Masalit in Darfur with mass executions and dumping of bodies in the open, supported by racist hate speech, constituting crimes against humanity.
As for children and vulnerable groups, organizations documented forced recruitment and the destruction of hundreds of schools or their conversion into military barracks, depriving them of education. The destruction of hospitals has also led to the collapse of the health sector, leaving women and children without medical or psychological care.
Arbitrary arrests and enforced disappearances included the kidnapping of citizens and the harassment of activists, journalists, and lawyers, along with torture and the enforced disappearance of detainees. Humanitarian organizations were not spared from targeting, as the offices of the International Red Cross and the Sudanese Red Crescent in Darfur were subjected to military attacks.
In addition to the bombing of the headquarters of Doctors Without Borders, UNICEF, and the World Food Programme, which led to the suspension of vital services for hundreds of thousands.
The organizations believe these attacks are aimed at silencing the international community and preventing aid from reaching victims. The conflict has led to a massive displacement crisis, with more than 10 million people, mostly women and children, forcibly displaced amidst sieges on cities and the denial of aid, causing catastrophic famines.
The organizations put forward specific demands, such as establishing an independent international investigative mechanism, referring the situation to the International Criminal Court, imposing sanctions on the leaders involved, securing safe humanitarian corridors, providing international protection for civilians, supporting transitional justice, a comprehensive political transition, enhancing protection for human rights defenders, and halting attacks on vital facilities.
The organizations issued a strong appeal to the international community, warning that silence is tantamount to complicity in crimes, and calling on the Human Rights Council to take decisive action to ensure justice and peace in Sudan.
