Sudan’s War and the Regular Sessions of Human Rights Council: Shocking Addressing

More than three hours into the 4^th item of the 54^th Regular Session of the General Debate of the Human Rights Council, there was an eerie addressing of testimonies regarding human rights violations. As the Afro-European Organization addressed the session, they confirmed already-reported shocking violations.

The Afro-European organization “vehemently” condemned the ongoing violations in Sudan and the “severe breaches in the Sudanese political, social, economic, regional, and international system.” What’s more worrying, but not surprising, is their confirming the evident narrative of the Sudanese Armed Forces (SAF) being the party that started the War on April 15, except they added that the jihadi factions related to the extremist Sudanese Islamic Movement within the SAF.

The Organization named Omdurman as the war zone area, with abundant incidents of human rights violations such as torture, house looting, gender-based violence, and physical abuse of children. Also, and most importantly, the Organization reported the forced recruitment of children and mass mobilization in rural areas where the SAF is enlisting underdeveloped populations.

Numerous reports of human rights violations, including war crimes and crimes against humanity, have been linked to the SAF, such as airstrikes and artillery booming. Mass mobilization has been linked to the old “partisan” extremist-militia method of the Sudanese Islamic Movement. Violations committed by the SAF are nothing new, but it is rarely reported due to the fear of the intelligence and security forces targeting those who report such incidents.

The humanitarian overview indicates a nationwide crisis as this war entered its six months.