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Sudan

Situation of human rights in the Sudan; Report of the United Nations High Commissioner for Human Rights (A/HRC/55/29) (Advance Unedited Version)

Attachments

Human Rights Council
Fifty fifth session
26 February–5 April 2024
Agenda Item 2
Annual report of the United Nations High Commissioner
for Human Rights and reports of the Office of the
High Commissioner and the Secretary-General

Summary

The present report has been prepared pursuant to Human Rights Council resolution S-36/1, in which the Council requested the High Commissioner, with the assistance of his designated Expert on human rights in the Sudan, to present a comprehensive report on the situation of human rights in the Sudan and on violations and abuses committed by all parties in the Sudan to the Council at its fifty-fifth session. The report covers the period from 15 April to 15 December 2023. It notes the key human rights challenges faced by the Sudan and includes recommendations to address them.

I. Introduction and methodology

1. The present report is submitted pursuant to Human Rights Council resolution S-36/1, in which the Council requested the High Commissioner, with the assistance of his designated Expert (the Expert), to submit a comprehensive report on the situation of human rights in the Sudan and on violations and abuses committed by all parties in the Sudan to the Council at its fifty-fifth and fifty-eighth sessions. The report covers the period from 15 April to 15 December 2023.

2. The draft report was shared with the Sudanese authorities for factual comments and their written response was received on 19 February 2024.

3. The report is based on information gathered by the Expert and the Office of the High Commissioner for Human Rights (OHCHR) in the Sudan. It includes information from interviews with at least 303 victims and witnesses (188 men, 107 women, four boys, four girls), including during OHCHR monitoring missions to Chad, from 17 June to 1 July 2023, and to Ethiopia, from 5 to 23 July 2023. It also includes analysis of photographs, satellite imagery and video footage, in addition to United Nations reports, statements by authorities, and secondary sources, including those published in different media. The conflict in the Sudan that affected the security situation has imposed serious limitations to access the most violence-affected areas, necessitating OHCHR to rely on remote monitoring of human rights violations and abuses and/or violations of international humanitarian law.

4. During the reporting period, the Expert continued to hold regular online meetings with civil society organizations. A visit to the Sudan by the Expert planned for May 2023 was cancelled due to the outbreak of hostilities. He visited Ethiopia from 28 August to 3 September 2023, where he met with various interlocutors, including Sudanese civil society actors, human rights defenders and civilians who had fled Sudan.

5. OHCHR employs a “reasonable grounds to believe” standard in its assessment of incidents investigated and considers the credibility and reliability of the sources, taking into account their nature and objectivity. It draws conclusions in its assessment of incidents documented only when this standard is met.

II. Political and security developments

6. The outbreak of hostilities between the Sudanese Armed Forces and Rapid Support Forces in Khartoum State and Merowe on 15 April 2023 followed tensions between the two forces, including due to disagreement on proposals for security sector reform. The mobilization of troops and a military build-up, particularly in Khartoum, Darfur and Northern regions had been reported since early March.

7. Since May 2023, Saudi Arabia and the United States of America co-facilitated talks in Jeddah, Saudi Arabia, between representatives of the Sudanese Armed Forces and Rapid Support Forces. Despite commitments made by the parties to protect civilians and respect temporary ceasefires, including in the 11 May 2023 “Jeddah Declaration of Commitment to Protect the Civilians of Sudan”, there was no significant change on the ground. On 7 November, the two parties reached an agreement on measures to facilitate humanitarian access to civilians and agreed to implement confidence-building measures. Talks were indefinitely suspended on 5 December. On 9 December, an Intergovernmental Authority on Development (IGAD) summit in Djibouti concluded with the creation of an alternative mediation mechanism between the parties, led by IGAD.

8.As of mid-December, there had been no progress towards a ceasefire, with heavy fighting between the two parties continuing, and by 15 December spreading to Wad Madani, El-Jazirah State