UN rights body to convene urgent debate on Sudan’s North Kordofan crisis
The Human Rights Council will meet in Geneva after five countries warned that about 500,000 civilians near el-Obeid face atrocity risks.
By Sofia Marchetti · World Affairs Correspondent
3 min read
The United Nations Human Rights Council is set to hold an urgent meeting in Geneva on the human rights situation around el-Obeid in Sudan’s North Kordofan state. The debate follows warnings from five countries that about 500,000 civilians could face large-scale atrocities as Sudan’s war grinds through its fourth year, Al Jazeera reported.
Germany, Ireland, the Netherlands, Norway and the United Kingdom formally requested the session, according to Al Jazeera. In their request, the countries pointed to the risk of worsening violence in and around el-Obeid, a city under severe pressure amid fighting between the Sudanese Armed Forces and the Rapid Support Forces.
The countries said drone strikes had increasingly damaged civilian infrastructure, contributing to acute shortages of fuel and water. They also said siege-like conditions had trapped thousands of people in el-Obeid and left them cut off from basic services.
The group plans to submit a draft resolution for Human Rights Council members to consider after the debate, Al Jazeera reported. The report did not specify the text of the proposed resolution or when a vote may take place.
Doctors reported detained in el-Fasher
The urgent debate comes as Sudanese medical workers face growing danger in another part of the country. The Sudan Doctors Network said the Rapid Support Forces had detained 20 doctors, including four women, since overrunning el-Fasher, the capital of North Darfur, in October last year.
The independent medical network said the doctors’ whereabouts remain unknown. In a statement, it called on the RSF to reveal what happened to the detained medical workers and to allow health staff to perform their jobs without being targeted or subjected to abuses.
The network said healthcare workers in North Darfur had faced broad targeting from the start of the war on April 15, 2023, until the fall of el-Fasher. It said 25 medical personnel were killed during that period.
The RSF has been fighting the Sudanese Armed Forces since 2023. The war has killed tens of thousands of people, displaced more than 12 million and caused what the United Nations has described as the world’s worst displacement and hunger crisis, according to Al Jazeera.
Recent fighting has intensified in Kordofan and in Blue Nile state near the Ethiopian border, Al Jazeera reported. The escalation followed the RSF’s takeover of el-Fasher, which had been the Sudanese army’s last major stronghold in Darfur.
Images from South Kordofan showed women and children waiting for food at al-Mohayra camp for displaced people near el-Obeid, according to an AFP photo caption carried by Al Jazeera. The scene underscored the pressure on civilians as aid access, water supplies and fuel remain strained in areas affected by the conflict.
This story draws on original reporting from Al Jazeera.