The fighting in Sudan caused the displacement of thousands inside Sudan to neighboring countries (French)
High Commissioner for Human Rights Volker Türk said that Sudanese civilians are living in extreme terror, due to the conflict in the country, which he described as cruel and absurd and constitutes a threat to regional peace.
Turk said - in a speech before the United Nations Human Rights Council yesterday, Friday - that the crisis in Sudan is a tragedy that has become forgotten at the international level, and stressed that this crisis is characterized by disregard for human life, and described what is happening there as a nightmare.
He explained that the two sides of the conflict in Sudan "created a climate of extreme terror, forcing millions to flee," pointing out that both sides have escaped punishment for multiple human rights violations, while the peace talks have not made any progress.
The UN High Commissioner expressed his regret at the absence of an effective dialogue to end the conflict, and urged the warring parties to return to the negotiating table to bring about peace.
He also called on "the international community to refocus its attention on this unfortunate crisis before it descends into further chaos."
He expressed his deep concern about the thousands of arbitrarily detained civilians, and said that estimates indicate that at least 14,600 people were killed during the conflict, and another 26,000 were injured, suggesting that the toll is much higher.
Turk said that in addition to heavy artillery fire, the use of “sexual violence as a weapon of war, including rape, has become a defining and shameful feature of this crisis.”
The High Commissioner for Human Rights also expressed alarm at reports of civilians being mobilized to fight, fearing that this would increase the chances of Sudan sliding into a protracted civil war.
He noted that 80% of hospitals were out of service, and that the apparent deliberate denial of safe access to humanitarian agencies could amount to a war crime.
Volker Türk said that the destruction of hospitals and schools will have a long-term impact on civilians' ability to obtain health care and education services.
He added, "With more than 8 million people forced to flee within Sudan and to neighboring countries, this crisis is turning the country upside down and severely threatening peace, security and humanitarian conditions throughout the region."
Turk urged countries to donate generously to the humanitarian response plan for Sudan, stressing that only 4% of the required budget has been collected so far.
Since April last year, Sudan has witnessed violent fighting between the Sudanese army led by Abdel Fattah al-Burhan and the Rapid Support Forces led by his former deputy, Mohamed Hamdan Dagalo (Hemedti), which caused the deaths of thousands of Sudanese, the displacement of millions, and plunged the country into a difficult humanitarian catastrophe.
United Nations estimates indicate that 25 million people, or more than half of Sudanese, need aid, and it also indicates that at least 18 million of them suffer due to food insecurity.
Source: French