UN Human Rights Council: ‘Drones and sexual violence worsening Sudan conflict’

The United Nations High Commissioner for Human Rights on Monday condemned the sharp increase in the use of drones in Sudan’s war, saying they had caused the deaths of more than 1,000 civilians during the first five months of this year.

Speaking at the opening of the 62^nd United Nations Human Rights Council session in Geneva, Volker Türk said the conflict in Sudan had expanded in scope and intensity, marked by a significant rise in the use of drones in warfare.

He also expressed concern over the spread of rape and sexual violence.

49 strikes in five months

The Deputy High Commissioner for Human Rights said the warring parties had increasingly relied on drones, resulting in the deaths of 1,000 civilians between January and May 2026. She said drone strikes accounted for 80% of recorded civilian deaths during that period.

In a statement to the Human Rights Council, she said civilian facilities had been widely targeted, including health facilities. The UN documented 16 strikes on healthcare facilities and a further 33 attacks on markets and energy and water infrastructure, including in areas that were not active battle zones.

She said the violence had spread beyond the original frontlines to areas including South and Central Darfur, Blue Nile, White Nile, Khartoum and Kordofan.

More than 830 victims of sexual violence documented

The Deputy High Commissioner said gender-based violence had reached unprecedented levels, including gang rape, sexual torture and sexual slavery, and had been used systematically since the outbreak of the war.

She announced that 830 victims of sexual violence, including boys and men, had been documented in 16 of Sudan’s 18 states, while noting that significant obstacles remained to comprehensive documentation. She added that the lack of accountability for these crimes was contributing to impunity and increasing suffering.

She said civilians fleeing violence were exposed to further abuses during their journeys, including arbitrary detention, enforced disappearance, extortion, sexual and gender-based violence, and indiscriminate killings. Numerous drone strikes on civilian vehicles had also been documented.

She highlighted the vital role played by volunteer networks in distributing aid and supporting displaced people, and called for the protection of humanitarian workers and those documenting violations and advocating accountability from attacks and arbitrary detention.

The Deputy High Commissioner said the warring parties were fighting for control of resources such as gum arabic and gold, adding that external actors were supplying drones and advanced weapons, helping to fuel the conflict.

She called for an immediate end to attacks on civilians and civilian infrastructure, and urged states to respect the arms embargo imposed by the UN Security Council. She also called on countries to refrain from transferring weapons and drones used against civilians and to exert political and diplomatic pressure to secure a humanitarian truce, followed by a ceasefire and a transition to an inclusive civilian government.

She further called for the situation in Sudan to be referred to the International Criminal Court through the Security Council.

Fact-finding mission says international crimes are being committed

Mohamed Othman Chande, head of the Fact-Finding Mission on the human rights situation in Sudan, said the Sudanese Armed Forces, the Rapid Support Forces (RSF) and allied groups were committing international crimes.

In an oral briefing to the Human Rights Council, he said civilians perceived to support either side were being arrested and arbitrarily detained without legal grounds or judicial safeguards.

He said the RSF was engaged in patterns of extortion, demanding ransom payments from families in exchange for the release of detained relatives, imposing devastating burdens on households.

He added that RSF detention facilities, including Nyala prison in South Darfur, were a source of serious concern because of overcrowding, violence, inadequate medical care and food shortages, as well as the denial of visits by relatives or lawyers, creating a risk of enforced disappearance.

He said the Sudanese Armed Forces had detained civil society leaders, political opponents, lawyers, journalists, human rights defenders and humanitarian workers, as well as people suspected of collaborating with the RSF. Many faced violations of due process, and some had been sentenced to death.

He said both sides were holding thousands of people in overcrowded facilities lacking adequate water, food, sanitation and healthcare. Torture and ill-treatment, including beatings and electric shocks, were reported to be practised by both parties. Sexual violence was also reported in RSF detention facilities, while sexual torture of men had been attributed to the Sudanese Armed Forces.

He called for an immediate end to arbitrary arrest and detention, the release of all detainees held without legal basis, humane treatment and due process guarantees for all detainees, disclosure of their fate, whereabouts and legal status, and unrestricted access for human rights agencies and humanitarian organisations to all detention facilities.

He also called for an end to impunity for international crimes, saying accountability and coordinated international action were essential to reversing current trends and preventing further atrocities.

Sudan’s attorney general: ‘Nearly 150,000 legal cases and 30,000 deaths recorded since war began’

Sudan’s statement to the council included a briefing from Sudan’s Attorney General and head of the National Committee for the Investigation of Crimes and Violations of National and International Humanitarian Law, Intisar Ahmed Abdel Aal, who called on the UN Human Rights Council to support the Sudanese government’s initiative to end the war.

she said that 149,860 legal cases had been registered, including 385 cases against members of regular forces whose immunity had been lifted.

She also called for the termination of the mandate of the Fact-Finding Mission, which she said had “drifted towards politicising its work”, and urged support for the National Committee based on the principle of complementarity, arguing that Sudan has national judicial institutions that are both capable of and willing to enforce accountability.