{"id":30953,"date":"2025-08-14T00:00:00","date_gmt":"2025-08-13T23:00:00","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/csw-yeo.1wp.site\/reports\/extend-the-mandate-of-the-fact-finding-mission-for-two-more-years-6609\/"},"modified":"2026-09-23T19:43:23","modified_gmt":"2026-09-23T18:43:23","slug":"extend-the-mandate-of-the-fact-finding-mission-for-two-more-years-6609","status":"publish","type":"reports","link":"https:\/\/www.csw.org.uk\/es\/reports\/extend-the-mandate-of-the-fact-finding-mission-for-two-more-years-6609\/","title":{"rendered":"Extend the mandate of the Fact-Finding Mission for two more years"},"content":{"rendered":"\n
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To Permanent Representatives of Member and Observer States of the United Nations (UN) Human Rights Council (Geneva, Switzerland)<\/b><\/p>\n\n\n\n

Sudan: Extend the mandate of the Fact-Finding Mission for two more years<\/i><\/b><\/p>\n\n\n\n

Your Excellencies,<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Ahead of the UN Human Rights Council\u2019s 60th<\/sup> session (8 Sep\u00adtem\u00adber-8 October 2025), we, the un\u00adder\u00adsi\u00adgned civil society orga\u00adni\u00adsa\u00adtions, write to urge your delegation to support a mandate extension for the Inde\u00adpen\u00addent International Fact-Fin\u00adding Mission (FFM) for the Sudan.<\/b><\/p>\n\n\n\n

In light of the serious violations of international law committed by all parties to the conflict, inclu\u00adding alarming rates of sexual and gender-based violence (SGBV) against women and girls, and of the on\u00ad\u00adgoing need to collect and preserve evidence and identify those responsible with a view to en\u00adsu\u00adring that they are held accountable, the next Council resolution on Sudan should extend the FFM\u2019s man\u00ad\u00addate for at least two years. It should also re\u00adquest the FFM to regu\u00adlarly re\u00adport to the Council in the framework of public debates on Sudan\u2019s human rights situation.<\/b><\/p>\n\n\n\n

By adopting resolution 57\/2,1<\/sup><\/b> in October 2024, the Council did not only extend the FFM\u2019s mandate; it re\u00adco\u00adgnised the link between im\u00adpunity and cycles of violence in Sudan. The voting result (23 in favour, 12 against) showed broad support across all regional groups for the FFM\u2019s work and sent a clear message in favour of ongoing inves\u00adti\u00adgations and accoun\u00adtability.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The current conflict is now in its third year. Since fighting erupted between the Sudanese Armed Forces (SAF) and the Rapid Support Forces (RSF) and their allied forces, on 15 April 2023, tens of thou\u00adsands of civi\u00adlians have been killed and over 13 million have been displaced, which makes Sudan the world\u2019s largest dis\u00ad\u00adpla\u00adcement crisis. Over 10.7 million people (or nearly a quar\u00adter of Su\u00addan\u2019s po\u00adpulation) have been internally displaced, a figure that includes over two million new dis\u00adpla\u00adce\u00adments in the first quart\u00ader of 2025 alone.2<\/b><\/sup><\/p>\n\n\n\n

The humanitarian crisis is worsening. As of mid-June 2025, 30 million people needed lifesaving aid. According to a UN official, the health system has been \u201csmashed to pieces, with cholera, measles and other diseases spreading,\u201d while \u201chos\u00adpi\u00adtals and displacement camps have been attacked, critical infra\u00adstructure destroyed, and aid trucks hit, preventing them from getting food and essential supplies to those in such desperate need.\u201d3<\/b><\/sup> With the war continuing unabated and no signs of reprieve for civilians as both parties escalate their violence, and as all sides are targeting local responders, activists, and journalists, Sudan is on the verge of collapse,4<\/sup><\/b> with catastrophic consequences for the protection of civilians.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Twenty-eight months after the start of the conflict, parties continue to show utter disregard for inter\u00adnational humani\u00adtarian law, international human rights law, and their commitments under the Jeddah Dec\u00adla\u00adration of Com\u00admit\u00adment to Protect the Ci\u00advilians of Sudan. Violations they are responsible for, some of which may amount to crimes under in\u00adter\u00adnational law, include targeted and indiscriminate attacks against civi\u00adlians and civilian objects, ar\u00adbitrary detention, torture, enforced disappearances,5<\/sup><\/b> extrajudicial exe\u00adcu\u00adtions and other unlaw\u00adful killings, wide\u00adspread sexual violence against women and girls, and ethnically moti\u00adva\u00adted attacks, inclu\u00adding in Darfur, by RSF and allied Arab militias, against Masalit and other non-Arab communities.6<\/sup><\/b><\/p>\n\n\n\n

SGBV is being committed systematically against the bodies of women and girls. Because deliberate obs\u00adtruc\u00adtions to humanitarian assistance as well as armed attacks on medical objects and personnel causes constraints in the provision of key health services and psychosocial support, survivors of sexual vio\u00adlence are unable to receive the care they need. Numerous victims of gang rape have died as a result of their injuries or by suicide.7<\/sup><\/b><\/p>\n\n\n\n

In its oral update to the Council, in June 2025, the FFM described a \u201cbrutal, multifaceted and increasingly complex conflict\u201d whose shifting dynamics include revenge killings and reprisals. It added that \u201c[w]hat began as a political and security crisis has become a grave human rights and protection em\u00ader\u00adgency, mar\u00adked by international crimes, that stain all involved.\u201d It stressed that \u201c[i]t is unconscionable that this de\u00advastating war is entering its third year with no sign of resolution.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The FFM called on the in\u00adter\u00ad\u00adna\u00adtional com\u00admunity to implement an arms embargo and ensure those res\u00adponsible for serious vio\u00adla\u00adtions are held ac\u00adcountable. Stressing that it had documented an \u201cincreased use of heavy weaponry in populated areas and a sharp rise in sexual and gender-based vio\u00adlence,\u201d it said hu\u00adma\u00adnitarian relief was being \u201cwea\u00adpo\u00adnized\u201d and hospitals and medical facilities were \u201cunder siege.\u201d The FFM also made clear that \u201c[t]he scale of hu\u00adman suffering continue[d] to deepen.\u201d8<\/sup><\/b><\/p>\n\n\n\n

Nowhere is safe, and civilians bear the brunt of the conflict. They continue to be targeted for killings, through direct and indiscriminate attacks, artillery shelling and air\u00adstri\u00adkes,9<\/sup><\/b> sexual violence, abductions and looting. Women and girls have been facing \u201cesca\u00adla\u00adting risks of gang rape, sexual slavery, trafficking, and forced marriage, parti\u00adcu\u00adlarly in Al Gezira, [Sennar], Darfur, and South Kordofan.\u201d10<\/sup><\/b><\/p>\n\n\n\n

Attacks against civi\u00adlians have been reported in, among others, displacement camps and markets in Khar\u00adtoum, Omdurman, Darfur, South Kordofan, and North Kordofan.11<\/sup><\/b><\/p>\n\n\n\n

Recent months have witnessed an increase in the use of unmanned aerial vehicles (drones), including ag\u00adainst humanitarian convoys and civilian infrastructure.12<\/sup><\/b> A rise in extrajudicial exe\u00adcutions of civilians has also been reported in North Darfur and Khartoum State, including as part of retaliatory attacks against people accused of having \u201ccollaborated\u201d with parties to the conflict.13<\/sup><\/b><\/p>\n\n\n\n

~ ~ ~<\/b><\/b><\/b><\/p>\n\n\n\n

Against this backdrop, and despite ongoing challenges related to the UN\u2019s liquidity crisis and Sudanese authorities\u2019 continued refusal to allow its members and secretariat access to the country, the FFM has been able to carry out its work. It has continued to conduct interviews with sources, receive submissions, verify videos, geolocate attacks, and compile dossiers identifying possible perpetrators. It has carried out investigative missions to neighbouring countries and engaged in consultations with African Union (AU) offi\u00adcials14<\/sup><\/b> and civil society. It has also initiated cooperation with relevant judicial entities15<\/sup><\/b> and is man\u00addated to \u201ccooperate and share best practice with other international, regional and domestic accountability initiatives, as and when these are established, as appropriate.\u201d16<\/sup><\/b><\/a><\/p>\n\n\n\n

The FFM remains a critical international mechanism with the mandate, resources, expertise and expe\u00adri\u00adence to in\u00addependently investigate and report on violations committed throughout Sudan, and that prio\u00adri\u00adtises accountability. The FFM\u2019s ex\u00adper\u00adtise includes the ability to use methodologies, tools, and methods of work to document, investigate and establish the facts, circum\u00adstances and root causes of violations, collect and preserve evidence, and identify perpetrators even with\u00adout access to Sudan\u2019s territory. The (SAF-aligned) Sudanese authorities\u2019 refusal to cooperate with the FFM, despite Sudan\u2019s commitment as a Human Rights Council Member and pursuant to UN General Assembly reso\u00adlu\u00adtion 60\/251 to \u201cuphold the highest standards in the promotion and protection of human rights\u201d and \u201cfully cooperate with the Council,\u201d does not and will not prevent the FFM from fulfilling its mandate.17<\/sup><\/b><\/p>\n\n\n\n

~ ~ ~<\/b><\/b><\/b><\/p>\n\n\n\n

As the FFM highlighted in its June 2025 update: \u201cOne message emerged with resounding clarity: peace without justice is an illusion. Accountability is not a luxury; it is a prerequisite for a sustai\u00adnable peace in Sudan as its very absence is amongst the key root causes of conflict. The preparations for justice should therefore begin now, and any peace agreement must address issues of justice.\u201d <\/b><\/p>\n\n\n\n

Investigations and public reporting remain indispensable,<\/b>with a continued strong focus on inves\u00adti\u00ad\u00adgating the current atrocities, including crimes of SGBV perpetrated against the Sudanese people, par\u00adti\u00adcularly women and girls, by the warring parties<\/b>.<\/b><\/p>\n\n\n\n

As Sudan\u2019s conflict is ongoing and egre\u00adgious violations con\u00adti\u00adnue to be committed by all parties to the conflict, with further needs for col\u00adlection and preservation of evidence and identification of per\u00adpetrators, there is no other option for the Council but to extend the FFM\u2019s mandate.<\/b><\/p>\n\n\n\n

At its upcoming 60th<\/sup> session, the Human Rights Council should therefore:<\/b><\/p>\n\n\n\n