UN mission suspects war crimes in Sudan, calls for peacekeeping force

Both sides in Sudan's civil war have committed abuses on a large scale which may amount to war crimes or crimes against humanity, a U.N.-mandated mission said on Friday, recommending an arms embargo and a peacekeeping force to protect civilians.

The 19-page report by a UN Fact-Finding Mission, based on 182 interviews with survivors, their family members and witnesses, said that both the Sudanese army and the paramilitary Rapid Support Forces (RSF) were responsible for attacks on civilians and had used torture and carried out arbitrary arrests.

"The gravity of these findings underscores the urgent and immediate action to protect civilians," said the mission's chair Mohamed Chande Othman, calling for an independent and impartial force to be deployed without delay.

The report is the three-member mission’s first since its creation in October 2023 by the United Nations Human Rights Council in Geneva.

Civilians in Sudan are facing worsening famine, mass displacement and disease after 17 months of war between the army and the RSF paramilitary.

U.S.-led mediators said last month that they had secured guarantees from both parties at talks in Switzerland to improve access for humanitarian aid, but that the Sudanese army's absence from the discussions had hindered progress.