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UN rights chief urges countries to \u2018stand up against atrocities\u2019 committed by paramilitary RSF in takeover of the city.<\/em><\/p>\n<\/div>\n The United Nations\u2019s top human rights body has ordered a probe into abuses in Sudan\u2019s el-Fasher, where mass killings have been reported since the city fell to the paramilitary Rapid Support Forces (RSF) last month.<\/p>\n During a special session in Geneva on Friday, the UN Human Rights Council adopted a resolution ordering the UN\u2019s Independent International Fact-Finding Mission for Sudan to urgently investigate violations in el-Fasher, the capital of North Darfur state.<\/p>\n list of 3 items<\/span>end of list<\/span><\/section>\n The resolution also called on the investigative team to \u201cidentify, where possible\u201d suspected perpetrators in an effort to ensure they are \u201cheld accountable\u201d.<\/p>\n The move comes weeks after the RSF, which has been battling the Sudanese Armed Forces (SAF) for control of Sudan since April 2023, took full control of el-Fasher on October 26 after an 18-month siege on the city.<\/p>\n Nearly 100,000 people have fled el-Fasher since the RSF\u2019s takeover, with displaced Sudanese civilians saying they faced indiscriminate attacks and sexual violence, among other abuses. Many said they saw dead bodies lining the streets.<\/p>\n UN High Commissioner for Human Rights Volker Turk told the council on Friday that the \u201catrocities that are unfolding in el-Fasher were foreseen and preventable\u201d and \u201cconstitute the gravest of crimes\u201d.<\/p>\n He said the UN had warned that the fall of el-Fasher \u201cwould result in a bloodbath\u201d.<\/p>\n \u201cSo none of us should be surprised by reports that since the RSF took control of el-Fasher, there have been mass killings of civilians, ethnically targeted executions, sexual violence including gang rape, abductions for ransom, widespread arbitrary detentions, attacks on health facilities, medical staff and humanitarian workers, and other appalling atrocities,\u201d Turk said.<\/p>\n \u201cThe international community has a clear duty to act. There has been too much pretence and performance and too little action. It must stand up against these atrocities, a display of naked cruelty used to subjugate and control an entire population.\u201d<\/p>\n The RSF has denied targeting civilians or blocking aid, saying such activities are due to rogue actors.<\/p>\n But the UN, human rights groups and other observers have said evidence suggests that mass killings were committed by the paramilitary group.<\/p>\n Sudanese medics have also warned that the RSF appears to be trying to bury the bodies of those killed in el-Fasher in an effort to conceal what happened.<\/p>\n Meanwhile, tens of thousands of people are believed to remain trapped in the city, prompting the head of the UN\u2019s migration agency this week to urgently call for a ceasefire and a humanitarian corridor to provide aid to those civilians.<\/p>\n During Friday\u2019s Human Rights Council session, Mona Rishmawi, a member of the UN\u2019s independent fact-finding mission on Sudan, described examples of rape, killing and torture and said a comprehensive investigation is required to establish the full picture.<\/p>\n She said RSF forces had turned el-Fasher University, where thousands of civilians had been sheltering, \u201cinto a killing ground\u201d.<\/p>\n Meanwhile, Turk warned that violence is \u201csurging\u201d to the neighbouring Kordofan region, where bombardments, blockades and forced displacement have been reported.\u00a0\u201cKordofan must not suffer the same fate as Darfur,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n The council, which is made up of 47 UN member countries, does not have the power to force countries or others to comply, but can shine a spotlight on rights violations and help document them for possible use in places like the International Criminal Court (ICC).<\/p>\nRecommended Stories <\/h2>\n
Violence spreading<\/h2>\n