The United Nations Human Rights Council convened a special one-day session in Geneva on Friday to address the escalating human rights violations in Sudan’s Darfur region. The session focused on the recent massacre at a hospital in el-Fasher, where over 450 people were killed by the Rapid Support Forces (RSF), a paramilitary group engaged in conflict with the Sudanese army. The RSF’s brutal campaign included house-to-house killings, sexual violence, and attacks on healthcare facilities, according to the World Health Organization (WHO).
Volker Türk, the UN High Commissioner for Human Rights, condemned the atrocities as “the gravest of crimes,” emphasizing that the violence was both foreseeable and preventable. He highlighted reports of mass civilian killings, ethnically targeted executions, sexual assaults, abductions, and widespread detentions since the RSF seized control of el-Fasher, the capital of North Darfur.
The council debated a draft resolution, led by several European nations, calling for an urgent investigation by an existing team of independent experts. The resolution aims to identify those responsible for the crimes and hold them accountable. Mona Rishmawi, a member of the investigative team, described el-Fasher as a “crime scene,” detailing evidence of torture, rape, abductions, and enforced disappearances on a massive scale.
While the Human Rights Council lacks enforcement power, it plays a critical role in documenting violations and raising international awareness, potentially aiding future prosecutions at institutions like the International Criminal Court. The ongoing conflict between the Sudanese military and the RSF, which began in 2023, has resulted in at least 40,000 deaths and displaced 12 million people, with aid groups warning the actual toll could be far higher.