UN orders urgent inquiry into RSF atrocities in Sudan's El Obeid as siege tightens
The UN Human Rights Council has mandated an urgent investigation into abuses by the Rapid Support Forces in the besieged Sudanese city of El Obeid, where near-siege conditions and drone attacks have killed at least 45 civilians in recent weeks.
UN orders urgent inquiry
The UN Human Rights Council on Monday unanimously adopted a resolution condemning the escalating violence by the Rapid Support Forces (RSF) in the Sudanese city of El Obeid and mandating an urgent investigation into abuses there. The 47-member body acted after an urgent debate requested by the United Kingdom. The International Independent Fact-Finding Mission on Sudan, created by the Council in October 2023, must report its findings within three months. The mission will examine violations of international humanitarian law and international crimes committed in El Obeid and its surroundings. Britain's Human Rights Ambassador Eleanor Sanders told the Council:
These horrors must not be repeated.
Siege and civilian toll
El Obeid, a city of half a million people in North Kordofan, has been under RSF siege for 18 months and is now facing near-siege conditions, relentless drone attacks, and a massing of paramilitary forces. The UN rights chief Volker Türk issued a "red alert" on Friday, warning of an imminent catastrophe.
The resolution noted that recent drone strikes have killed at least 45 civilians and condemned "airstrikes against civilians and illegal attacks on civilian infrastructure." The city also hosts around 100,000 people displaced from other violence-hit areas, and the Council expressed deep concern about the risk of large-scale atrocities, including conflict-related sexual violence.This is not a drill. It is a red alert.
A war with no military solution
The war between the RSF and the Sudanese Armed Forces, led by General Abdel Fattah al-Burhan, has raged since April 2023, killing hundreds of thousands and displacing 15 million. Both sides have committed war crimes. The Council stressed that "there is no military solution to the crisis in Sudan" and reiterated calls for an immediate, unconditional ceasefire and a credible political transition leading to a democratically elected government. The resolution also recalled the horrors of El Fasher, where a starvation siege and massacre last year killed tens of thousands, with UN investigators reporting "the hallmarks of genocide."
International complicity
Rights groups and diplomats say the United Arab Emirates is a key backer of the RSF, though the UAE denies involvement. The Guardian reports that the UK had evidence in 2024 linking Ethiopia and the Emirates to the RSF but withheld it after what British MPs described as "significant" UAE pressure. There is also evidence of British military equipment being used by the RSF. The US and UK have voiced concern for Sudan but have largely ignored the UAE's role, according to the editorial, which notes that the UAE has pledged $1.4 trillion in US investments and an Emirati royal put $500 million into the Trump family's cryptocurrency business.
- War erupts between Sudanese Armed Forces and RSF
- UN Human Rights Council establishes International Fact-Finding Mission on Sudan
- RSF begins siege of El Obeid
- UN rights chief Volker Türk issues 'red alert' over El Obeid
- UN Human Rights Council orders urgent inquiry into RSF abuses
- Fact-finding mission to report findings to the Council
