Key facts
- The UN Human Rights Council established an urgent inquiry into abuses by the Rapid Support Forces (RSF) in Sudan's al-Obeid.
- The motion condemns escalating violence by the RSF in the city.
- Britain led the session, warning of potential large-scale atrocities.
- Approximately 500,000 civilians are reportedly at risk in El Obeid.
- The UN Fact-Finding Mission for Sudan reported RSF drone attacks on civilian areas.
The UN Human Rights Council has passed a motion condemning the escalating violence committed by the paramilitary Rapid Support Forces (RSF) in Sudan's al-Obeid and has established an urgent inquiry into abuses there. Britain led the session, warning of large-scale atrocities as the RSF massed forces around the city, recalling similar events in al-Fashir last year.
The session followed an appeal by rights groups for the Council to exercise its prevention mandate. The UN Fact-Finding Mission for Sudan reported an increasing and apparently indiscriminate barrage of RSF drone attacks in and around El-Obeid, noting that hospitals, markets, schools, and residential areas have reportedly been struck, causing civilian casualties and disrupting essential services. These reports are eerily reminiscent of the weeks preceding the RSF’s assault on El Fasher, which the UN Fact-Finding Mission concluded bore the “hallmarks of genocide.”
Calls were made during the session for action to address external support for the RSF, with notable mention of the UAE. The UN Human Rights Office stated it is investigating the role of external actors and the war economy fueling atrocities in Sudan. The resolution adopted by the Council urges an immediate halt to atrocities by all parties, calls for an end to external support, and requests the Fact-Finding Mission to conduct an urgent inquiry on El Obeid.
The United Kingdom, backed by Germany, the Netherlands, and Ireland, submitted a formal request for the emergency debate, citing a "threat of potential escalation on the ground" and warning that "500,000 civilians are at risk of being targeted in large-scale atrocities." The UN Security Council had previously issued its own warning of an "imminent risk of mass atrocities."