Top UN official urges Sudan’s rival factions to cease hostilities

December 21, 2023 (NEW YORK) – A special advisor to the United Nations Secretary General has strongly reiterated calls for all parties to the conflict in Sudan to lay down their arms and immediately cease their targeting of civilians.

Alice Wairumu Nderitu, the United Nations Special Adviser on the Prevention of Genocide expressed her gravest concern following the recent intensification of violence in war-torn Sudan specifically near and in Wad Madani, Al Jazirah State.

Violence has also intensified in El Fasher, North Darfur and Nyala in South Darfur.

“All parties to the conflict have international obligations under international human rights law and international humanitarian law. Moreover, they themselves have committed to protect civilian lives,” said Nderitu.

The advisor appealed to the parties’ explicit pledges to refrain from any attack that could cause incidental harm on civilians under the Jeddah Declaration of Commitment to Protect the Civilians of Sudan, as reaffirmed on November 7.

“Not only that such attacks are not avoided; on the contrary, all signs point at their deliberate commission. This is happening today as it was happening weeks and months ago,” she observed.

Nderitu expressed concerns that the escalation of clashes between the Sudanese Armed Forces (SAF) and the Rapid Support Forces (RSF) includes very serious allegations of ethnically motivated violence as well as deliberate attacks against medical personnel and facilities, which could constitute international crimes.

“Violence in Sudan is not ending. On the contrary, it is intensifying. Particularly in Wad Madani, clashes over the last five days have led to indiscriminate killings and attacks against civilians, injuries, lootings, and arrests, including those allegedly committed along identity lines. Civilian homes have also been destroyed. This is alarming and requires all possible attention and response,” she explained.

According to the top UN official, since the outbreak of these recent clashes, between 250,000 and 300,000 people have reportedly fled from Wad Madani and surrounding areas towards Sennar, Gedaref, Kassala, Blue Nile and elsewhere while all humanitarian field missions within and from Gezira remain suspended.

Describing the humanitarian situation in the country as “dire”, the special adviser reiterated concerns that the ongoing spread of violence could engulf the entire country, citing the recent reported attack in the locality of Shendi, River Nile.

Meanwhile, the special advisor further called on all those in position of influence to multiply their efforts to address the situation in Sudan with the gravity it requires.

“All international, regional, and national actors, including the African Union, the Intergovernmental Authority on Development, and the United Nations Security Council, must sustain their efforts, using all available tools, to prevent any further escalation, to bring forth an immediate and permanent cessation of hostilities and to ultimately break this decades-old cycle of violence. This needs to be reiterated loud and clear: The situation in Sudan cannot, must not, become a forgotten crisis,” she stressed.