UN chief condemns Sudanese Rapid Support Forces
UN Secretary General Antonio Guterres condemned attacks on civilians by the Rapid Support Forces, or RSF, on November 1st, according to the Arab News via Reuters and AFP. Meanwhile, Britain has said it will push for a UN Security Council resolution over the conflict.
The RSF allegedly killed at least 124 people in a village in El Gezira state last month, activists say, in one of the deadliest incidents of the war so far. A UN probe has also found evidence of large-scale sexual violence committed by the RSF, as reported by Middle East Eye.
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UN spokesperson Stephane Dujarric said Guterres was appalled by “reports of large numbers of civilians being killed, detained and displaced, acts of sexual violence against women and girls, the looting of homes and markets and the burning of farms.” He added that “such acts may constitute serious violations of international humanitarian law and human rights law. Perpetrators of such serious violations must be held accountable.”
Britain’s UN ambassador meanwhile told a press conference that “we will be shortly introducing a draft Security Council resolution … to drive forward progress on this.”
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She said the draft would focus on “developing a compliance mechanism for the warring parties commitments they made on the protection of civilians in Jeddah over a year ago in 2023 and ways to support mediation efforts to deliver a ceasefire, even if we start local ceasefires before moving to a national one.”
A resolution needs at least 9 UNSC votes in favour and can be vetoed by the US, UK, France, Russia and China. The move comes as a three-month approval given to the UN and aid groups by the Sudanese authorities to to reach Darfur with humanitarian assistance using the Adre border crossing with Chad is set to expire in mid-November.
Sudan’s UN ambassador Al-Harith Idriss Al-Harith Mohamed said on October 28th that the army-backed government is committed to the facilitation of aid across the country even in RSF-controlled areas.
Reuters, AFP, Middle East Eye
