Sudan: Inquiry into El-Obeid ordered by UN
An urgent inquiry into the violence occurring in El-Obeid in Sudan has been ordered by the UN, reports Asharq Al-Awsat on July 6th.
The UN Rights Council released a statement on July 6th saying “an urgent inquiry into any violations and abuses of international… law” in El-Obeid was to be conducted.
A resolution was also passed by the Rights Council on July 3rd, which stated “deep concern about the imminent risk of large-scale atrocities by the (RSF)… faced by hundreds of thousands of civilians, including children and internally displaced persons in and around El-Obeid”.
The resolution also acknowledged the “widespread use of rape and other forms of sexual and gender-based violence” in Sudan and expressed “alarm at reports of the use of starvation as a method of warfare”.
Eleanor Sanders, the UK’s human rights ambassador in Geneva, told the UN Rights Council that shock and concern were not enough and “concrete action to support accountability for these crimes” must be taken. The UN statement released on July 6th asserted that an update by investigators would be reported to the UN General Assembly and the Rights Council in September 2026.
This UN action comes after El-Obeid has been surrounded for months by the Rapid Support Forces (RSF) and recently faced intense attacks.
As well as being the capital of the North Kordofan state, El-Obeid is located on a route that crosses between the RSF-controlled regions in western Darfur and the Sudanese-controlled army in eastern Darfur.
This makes the city a key target in the over three-year-long conflict between the RSF and the Sudanese army.
As El-Obeid is home to half a million people, including nearly 100,000 refugees who have been displaced by Sudan’s civil war, these attacks have devastating consequences for civilians.
The UN have warned El-Obeid could suffer the violence seen in the RSF attack on El-Fasher in October 2025. The military operation was reported by the UN to have “the hallmarks of genocide”.
On July 3rd, Volker Türk, the UN’s Rights Chief, said: “The signs from El-Obeid are clear and unmistakable: another human rights catastrophe is unfolding in Sudan”.
Asharq Al-Awsat, Maghrebi.org
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