Human Rights Council – 54th session
Sudan Core Group Joint Statement - Interactive Dialogue on the Oral Update of the High Commissioner on the Sudan
As delivered by Ambassador Rita French (United Kingdom)
Tuesday 12th September 2023
Thank you Mr. President.
This statement is on behalf of the Sudan Core Group - Germany, Norway, the United States, and the United Kingdom.
The conflict in Sudan, entering its sixth month, is undeniably one of the most serious in the world. The human rights implications are catastrophic, and worsening every day..
In Khartoum and elsewhere, aerial bombardments and shelling of civilian neighbourhoods and structures by the Sudanese Armed Forces and Rapid Support Forces, and fighting across the city has left over a million people in a dire humanitarian situation, with little access to food, water, and medicine.
In Darfur, there are growing indications that the RSF and their allies are waging a campaign of indescribable horror, including acts of sexual and gender based violence, along ethnic lines – with parallels to the atrocities committed by the Janjaweed nearly 20 years ago.
Mr. President,
The people of Sudan are living in fear. Their lives,livelihoods, rights and access to basic necessities, have been devastated. We stand in solidarity with them and echo the call from civil society for an end to the fighting, unhindered humanitarian access,a lasting peace, and accountability for violations and abuses to end the cycle of impunity in Sudan which has persisted for decades.
Thank you.