UN News Today 06 September 2024 |

Sudan crisis: Rights investigators demand arms embargo extension to end ‘rampant’ abuses

Rival militia in Sudan have committed numerous international crimes and subjected terrified communities to sexual violence on an unthinkable scale, top human rights investigators have said.

In its first report into the Sudan conflict being waged by the Sudanese Armed Forces and the rival Rapid Support Forces, the independent experts said that women and girls are being treated as a “theatre of operation” by fighters responsible for grave sexual attacks.

With more, here’s Joy Ngozi Ezeilo from the UN Human Rights Council-appointed Fact-Finding Mission on Sudan: 

“Victims recounted being attacked in their homes, beaten, lashed and threatened with death or harm to their relatives or children before being raped by more than one perpetrator. They were also subjected to sexual violence while seeking shelter from attacks or fleeing. We also found evidence of women being subjected to sexual slavery after being abducted by RSF members.”

Since mid-April 2023, the conflict in Sudan has spread to 14 out of the 18 states impacting the entire country and the region, leaving eight million Sudanese internally displaced as a result of the conflict, more than two million forced to flee to neighbouring countries.

To halt the fighting, the top rights experts called for a country-wide extension of the existing arms embargo on Sudan’s Darfurs, to prevent the transfer of heavy weapons and ammunition.

Flooding affects more than 710,000 people in South Sudan: OCHA

From Sudan to South Sudan, where flooding has affected more than 700,000 people in the country and the Abyei Administrative Area.

In an alert, the UN aid coordination office OCHA said that since May, the floods have damaged homes, crops and critical infrastructure, disrupting education and health services and increasing the risk of disease outbreaks.

To help those affected, the UN and partner organizations have distributed food rations targeting over 25,000 flood-affected people in Fangak County, Jonglei State.

But aid teams remain concerned that 30 counties out of 78 have been affected by the rising waters, which have worsened an already critical humanitarian situation. 

South Sudan continues to suffer severe food insecurity, economic decline, conflict, disease outbreaks and the repercussions of the Sudan conflict, OCHA explained.

It said that Jonglei, Unity and Warrap states have reported the highest numbers of affected locations and populations.

Middle East crisis: top UN envoy condemns latest West Bank killings

While war continues to rage in Gaza, ongoing deadly clashes in the occupied West Bank that have left two Palestinian children dead have been condemned by the UN’s top representative for the Middle East Peace Process, Tor Wennesland.

In an online message, Mr Wennesland said that he was “appalled by the tragic killing of two children” in recent days by Israeli security forces during military operations in Jenin and Tulkarem. 

The veteran UN negotiator called for “an immediate and thorough investigation into these incidents” emphasizing that “every child’s life is precious, and the loss of so many young lives serves as a grim reminder that decisive action must be taken now to stop the violence”.

Echoing that message, the UN agency for Palestine refugees, UNWRA, reported that violence and destruction are increasing “by the hour” in the West Bank. It said that last week was the deadliest for Palestinian civilians in the West Bank since November last year, with seven children among the many killed.

On Friday, news agencies reported that a US citizen taking part in a protest against settlement expansion had died of her wounds after being shot by Israeli forces. 

Meanwhile in Gaza, the UN aid office OCHA reported that medical evacuations of critically ill and injured patients out of the enclave are still suspended following the closure of the Rafah crossing on 7 May.

An estimated 12,000 patients are still waiting to leave the Strip to receive urgently needed medical care.