The UN Human Rights Council on Friday unanimously backed a new, independent investigation into the mass killings reported in Sudan‘s city of El-Fasher. Speaking at an emergency meeting in Geneva on Friday, UN human rights chief Volker Turk asserted that the world ignored prior warnings. He strongly declared: “Bloodstains on the ground in El-Fasher have been photographed from space, and the international community’s record now carries a stain just as damaging.”
Since the civil war began two years ago, the conflict has killed more than 150,000 people and displaced approximately 12 million others from their homes. Specifically, the new investigation must identify the individuals who ordered and carried out the massacre, and the UN could potentially share the findings with the International Criminal Court.
International Sponsors Under Fire
However, the investigation’s mandate disappointingly makes no mention of other countries sponsoring the conflict, even though Turk warned companies and individuals who are “fuelling and profiting” from Sudan’s war.
Analysts accuse the UAE of shipping weapons to the paramilitary Rapid Support Forces (RSF), while reports allege Iran supplied some arms to the Sudanese army. Furthermore, the cash-strapped United Nations currently struggles to sustain its humanitarian work in Sudan, creating concerns it may not have adequate funds to mount a truly credible inquiry.
Evidence and Scale of Atrocities
The RSF captured El-Fasher last month after an 18-month siege, taking control of the last city in Darfur held by the army and its allies, but they deny targeting non-Arab groups there. A gruesome feature of this conflict involves the huge volume of atrocity footage and photos, frequently filmed by the culprits themselves and then circulated online.
Researchers will analyze this significant digital evidence in an effort to bring the perpetrators to justice. Mona Rishmawi, a UN fact-finding mission member, described the current crisis as unprecedented, saying the scale of Darfur’s suffering now exceeds the Janjaweed genocide 20 years ago.
Consequently, the RSF, which traces its origins back to the Janjaweed, now targets entire cities and massive refugee camps instead of just attacking villages.
