Sudan: Government rejects international recommendation to deploy forces to protect civilians

Sudan has announced its complete rejection of the recommendations of the international fact-finding mission to deploy international forces in the country to protect civilians. On Saturday, the Sudanese government reiterated its position not to deal with the mission in the future.

This came in a statement issued by the Ministry of Foreign Affairs in response to the announcement of a fact-finding committee formed by the United Nations Human Rights Council, recommending the deployment of international forces to protect civilians without delay.

The Foreign Ministry considered that the committee lacks professionalism and independence and that it is a "political, not a legal, body," adding that "the recommendations presented by the mission exceed the limits of its mandate and are in line with movements witnessed by the Security Council by well-known international powers that have continued to lead hostile positions against Sudan," according to the statement.

The ministry stated that "the mission aimed to conduct propaganda work before the Human Rights Council deliberations began to influence the positions of member states to achieve specific political goals and to extend the mission's work."

UN experts called on Friday for an "independent and neutral" force to be deployed without delay in Sudan to protect civilians in the face of atrocities by both warring parties.

The experts commissioned by the Human Rights Council concluded in a report that the warring parties “committed a horrific series of human rights violations and international crimes, many of which may be described as war crimes and crimes against humanity.”

“The gravity of these findings underscores the urgent need for immediate action to protect civilians,” said Mohamed Chande Osman, head of the Fact-Finding Mission on Sudan.

The Human Rights Council established a fact-finding mission on Sudan at the end of last year with the aim of documenting human rights violations committed in the country since the outbreak of war in April 2023 between the army led by Abdel Fattah al-Burhan and the Rapid Support Forces led by his former deputy Mohamed Hamdan Dagalo.

Since mid-April 2023, the Sudanese army and the Rapid Support Forces have been waging a war that has left about 18,800 dead and nearly ten million displaced and refugees, according to the United Nations.

(New Arab)