UN condemns RSF escalation around El Obeid as Tasees backs ceasefire

The UN Human Rights Council has unanimously condemned the paramilitary Rapid Support Forces (RSF) for escalating violence in and around El Obeid, warning that the North Kordofan capital faces a growing risk of mass atrocities, while the RSF-aligned Sudan Founding Alliance (Tasees) called for an immediate ceasefire and renewed political negotiations.

Speaking to Radio Dabanga, Tasees spokesperson Ahmed Tagad Lisan said lasting peace would require both the Sudanese Armed Forces (SAF) and the RSF to agree to an immediate ceasefire, a humanitarian truce and a political process.

He said humanitarian access must come first, adding that international resolutions alone would not end the conflict.

The Human Rights Council adopted the resolution by consensus on Monday amid growing concern that El Obeid could suffer atrocities like those committed in North Darfur’s capital of El Fasher.

The resolution condemns the RSF and allied forces for escalating attacks around the city and warns of an imminent risk of mass atrocities, including conflict-related sexual violence.

It also denounces attacks on civilians and civilian infrastructure, including reported drone strikes on hospitals, and condemns the use of starvation as a weapon of war through restrictions on aid, fuel and water.

The council called for an immediate ceasefire, unhindered humanitarian access, independent monitoring and investigations into alleged violations of international humanitarian and human rights law.

The United Kingdom sponsored the resolution alongside Ireland, Germany, the Netherlands and Norway after warning that RSF troop build-ups around El Obeid had sharply increased the risk of atrocities.

‘Sudan objects, analyst rejects RSF claims’

Sudan’s delegation objected to provisions allowing the UN Independent International Fact-Finding Mission to investigate alleged violations in El Obeid, arguing that the resolution placed the SAF and the RSF on an equal footing. The resolution nevertheless passed without opposition.

Tagad Lisan defended recent RSF drone strikes, claiming they targeted military sites rather than civilians. However, journalist and political analyst Qurashi Awad rejected that account, saying repeated RSF attacks had struck residential areas and caused heavy civilian casualties. He said the Human Rights Council’s intervention reflected the scale of suffering, particularly in El Fasher.

ICC pursues Darfur investigations

The International Criminal Court (ICC) Deputy Prosecutor Nazhat Shameem Khan is due to brief the UN Security Council on Darfur on Tuesday from Chad.

After visiting Farchana refugee camp, Khan said investigators had made significant progress in gathering evidence of crimes committed in El Fasher and El Geneina.

She said the ICC was building cases against both direct perpetrators and senior officials suspected of orchestrating atrocities, while continuing efforts to execute outstanding arrest warrants for former president Omar Al Bashir, Abdel Rahim Hussein and Ahmed Haroun.