Sudanese Government rejects UN fact-finding mission's recommendations
Port Sudan, Sudan (PANA) - Sudan on Sunday rejected a report by a UN Fact-Finding Commission, saying it was politically motivated, serves the interests of some powers Security Council and further more goes beyond the initial mandate of the mission.
A statement by the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, carried by the official media on Sunday said Sudan also reiterated its position of refusing to do business with the commission which it accused of serving the interest of some quarters within the UN Security Council.
The Ministry was critical of the fact that the commission had come out and addressed the media, publishing the text and contents of the recommendations and finding well before the Council was briefed on the contents set for 10th of current September.
In the mean time, the Attorney General of the Government of the Sudan and the Chair of the National Commission to Investigate Crimes by the Rapid Support Forces Militias, Omar Tayfur, arrived in the Switzerland capital, Geneva, to participate in the works of the 57th Session of the Human Rights Council and present the government response to the UN Fact Finding Mission Report.
The Ministry’s statement charged that the conduct of the UN Fact-Finding Mission “reveals a lack of professionalism and independence and confirms the commission is acting as a political rather than a legal body, proving the position adopted by the Sudanese government since its formation which was not backed by any African or Arab state.”
The statement indicated that the recommendations submitted by the mission go beyond the scope of its mandate, and are in line with the plans by well-known international powers within the Security Council, that have continued to adopt hostile stands against the Sudan.
The statement added that by resorting to propaganda activities prior to the convening of the Human Rights Council deliberations, the Mission was aiming to influence the positions of member states, with the aim of achieving specific political goals and to extend the mission’s work.
The statement underlined, the Government of Sudan rejects the recommendations of the fact-finding mission in their entirety and renews its declared position towards the mission and that it would not cooperate with it.
Tayfur Omar, Sudan’s Attorney General and Head of the Fact-Finding Committee on Violations Committed by the Rapid Support Forces, left for Geneva immediately after the publication of the 19-page report of the UN Fact-Finding Committee, to be on time for a meeting of the Human Rights Council there on 10 September, the official media reported Saturday.
Although the recommendations and findings of the report are almost two third against the Paramilitary Rapid Support Forces (RSF) and one third against the Sudanese Armed Forces (RSF), still the government said it would not recognize them.
The UN report has however recommended that given what it described as the failure of the parties to protect civilians so far, mission “recommends the deployment of an independent and impartial force with a mandate to protect civilians in Sudan.” It argued that the protection of civilians is paramount, and the parties must comply with their obligations under international law.
In 18 findings where the commission issued condemnations and held a party responsible for a wide range of human rights violations, sex and gender related violence as well as war crimes related activities; over 70% of the condemnations and guilt were dumped on the Rapid Support Forces against less than 30% for the regular army.
Some of the crimes the commission found were solely splashed on the RSF including ethnic cleansing and gender-based violence, sex related violence and looting of properties and driving people out of their homes. The army was accused of indiscriminate shelling, obstruction of humanitarian relief delivery and frustrating the activities of humanitarian organizations seeking to cross into the country.
Although the Sudanese minister for foreign affairs was quoted by semi-official media in Sudanese saying that the report was not comprehensive and was not neutral, it has charged that some parties he did not name were trying to make political use of the report.
Ambassador Hussein Awad, Sudan’s Foreign Minister on Saturday told an Arab satellite channel that the whole report was nothing but “a tumult in a cup”.
The report of the commission has stressed that since the outbreak of the conflict in mid-April 2023, the violence has led to an estimated over 18,800 persons killed and 33,000 injured.
“By August 2024, 10.7 million persons were internally displaced, which includes an estimated 7.9 million persons who fled their homes since the start of the conflict, and another 2.8 million persons who were displaced in earlier conflicts. More than 2.1 million persons, including returnees, fled to neighbouring countries,” it lamented.
The Fact-Finding Mission established that civilian infrastructure and objects, including objects indispensable to the survival of the civilian population, were attacked, damaged or destroyed both by SAF and RSF. Water, communication networks and electricity supply lines were destroyed in Khartoum, Darfur and other locations, leaving civilians in dire conditions. Large-scale destruction of residential homes through airstrikes and shelling left thousands of civilians without shelter, forcing many to flee and seek refuge in other locations.
Medical facilities in various locations affected by the conflict were also subjected to attacks, causing severe disruptions to the health care system.
The report said the Fact-Finding Mission has documented widespread pillage, predominantly by RSF and allied militias. They were sometimes followed by civilians, bandits, and groups of looters including “Kassiba”. Multiple incidents of pillage and looting, in numerous instances accompanied by killings and other violence against civilians, were reported in and around Khartoum, Gezira, and Darfur, particularly in and near the towns of El-Geneina, Ardamata, Nyala, El-Fasher and Zalingei.
Those who were displaced from their homes in Khartoum, Darfur, Gezira or other areas reported that they lost all, or nearly all, their belongings to RSF and/or their allied militias, including houses, which were subsequently occupied by them.
In Darfur, it underlined, the pillage, looting and destruction of property affected entire livelihoods and civilian structure, including shelter, food and water, the health system, water-stations, public offices and facilities, of non-Arab communities, in particular the Masalit.
The report of the one-year mission has meanwhile recommended the imposition of arms embargo on the warring parties in the Sudan.
It also said it found that the large-scale rape and other forms of sexual violence committed primarily by RSF and its allied militias amount to violations of international humanitarian law of violence to life and person, and outrages upon personal dignity.
The Fact-Finding Mission finds that both SAF and RSF intentionally inflicted severe physical and mental pain or suffering on their victims, including children.
According to the United Nations Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs (OCHA), close to 16 million persons were in need of lifesaving assistance due to prolonged internal conflicts and instabilities, and economic crises before the conflict broke out. By August 2024, more than half of the Sudanese population - 26.5 million – was experiencing acute hunger. Among them, more than 8.5 million persons are facing emergency levels of hunger and more than 755,000 were in catastrophic conditions in Darfur states, South and North Kordufan, Blue Nile, Gezira, and Khartoum.
-0- PANA MO/RA 8Sept2024
