Call for action to stop atrocious crimes and grave human rights violations in Sudan

We, the undersigned organisations and individuals, submit this call to express our deepest concern at the grave violations and atrocities that have been committed and are continuing to be committed by both parties and their affiliates in various parts of Sudan within the context of the 20-months long armed conflict. Following the advance of the Sudanese Armed Forces (SAF) and their recapture of Wad Madani1 on 10 January 2025, we are gravely concerned at incidents of revenge attacks, extrajudicial executions, and other acts of violence and intimidation committed by the SAF and its affiliates – including allied Sudan Shield Forces – against particular ethnic groups on the (unsubstantiated) basis of their alleged collaboration with the Rapid Support Forces (RSF). We call on the international community to ensure that the warring parties comply with their obligations under international humanitarian laws and international human rights laws, and that robust measures are in place to protect Sudanese civilians and vulnerable communities from further violence. We also urge you to condemn the discrimination and hate-driven rhetoric stoking such violence and deploy any diplomatic leverage at your disposal to halt the commission of international crimes – including the possible spectre of genocidal violence in Sudan.

Reports and video footage from multiple sources document horrific acts of violence perpetrated by the SAF and their affiliates, including apparent cruel, inhuman, or degrading treatment, torture and extrajudicial executions. These acts constitute serious violations of international humanitarian law and international human rights law that amount to international crimes. We strongly condemn the targeting of residents of the camps in Gazira State. By all appearances, the patterns of violence committed against residents amount to the deliberate and systematic destruction of their homes and livelihoods. In recent days, the situation has spiralled into a catastrophe with numerous attacks being conducted against residents of Kanabi, at least dozens of whom were arbitrarily rounded up and extrajudicially executed, including children and the elderly. In some instances, individuals were reportedly burned alive in their homes. This abhorrent round of revenge attacks has provoked a nationwide outcry and condemnations from major political parties and civil society groups in the country. Reportedly, “death squads” apparently affiliated with the SAF, the Sudan Shield Forces and other allied militia, are responsible for many of the violations. The victims are unarmed civilians who are targeted because of their (real or perceived) ethnic origin, skin colour, and ties to Darfur, Kordofan, South Sudan, and other ‘peripheries’. The individuals targeted are mostly agricultural workers belonging to ‘African’ tribes such as the Tama, Misseriya, Fur, Zaghawa, and Massalit. Perpetrators seek to publicly explain their atrocities by accusing these groups of being the social support base or “collaborators” of the RSF. These claims lack any real credibility and are instead consistent with a narrative routinely employed by the SAF, the RSF, and other military and security actors to justify their discriminatory violence. …read more