UN Rights Council Condemns Aerial Assaults in Sudan, Extends Fact-Finding Mandate

GENEVA: On Monday, the UN Human Rights Council issued a strong rebuke against indiscriminate drone strikes and assaults on civilians in Sudan, while also condemning external forces supplying weapons and mercenaries to fuel the conflict.

The world’s foremost rights body resolved to prolong the mandate of its independent international fact-finding mission for Sudan for another year.

The investigation, which concluded in February, determined that the siege and capture of El-Fasher bore “the hallmarks of genocide.”

The draft resolution secured adoption with 28 votes in favor, 10 opposed, and nine abstentions within the 47-member council.

Sudan stated the resolution ignored its reservations and had urged all member states to vote against it.

According to aid workers, the war between Sudan’s army and the paramilitary Rapid Support Forces has claimed over 200,000 lives, displaced more than 13 million people, and precipitated the world’s worst hunger and displacement crises.

The council resolution asserted that there is “no military solution to the crisis” facing Sudan.

It demanded an immediate and complete ceasefire by all parties without preconditions, an independent ceasefire monitoring mechanism, rehabilitation of critical basic infrastructure, and a negotiated peaceful resolution.

The text condemned international humanitarian law violations and human rights abuses committed by all sides of the conflict.

It specifically condemned “indiscriminate attacks against civilians, indiscriminate aerial bombardments and drone strikes, resulting in civilian deaths and the destruction of critical infrastructure,” encompassing schools and hospitals.

UN figures show that both the army and the RSF have increasingly utilized drones in recent months, with more than 1,100 deaths attributed to these strikes in the first five months of the year alone.

Voting in favor included Brazil, Britain, France, Italy, Japan, Mexico, South Korea, and South Africa.

Opposing votes came from China, Cuba, Egypt, Indonesia, Iraq, Pakistan, and Qatar.

Ethiopia, India, and Thailand abstained.

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