UN Human Rights Chief Calls for an Immediate Ceasefire in Sudan

Author: Eman Butt

September 09, 2026

HRRC calls for meaningful dialogue between Sudan’s opposing forces, which could ultimately lead to a ceasefire. We also call for an accountability process to hold the leaders of both forces accountable for atrocities committed against civilians.

[Image credit: Steve Evans/Flickr]

The ongoing war in Sudan first erupted in April 2023 due to violent clashes between the Sudanese Armed Forces (SAF) and the paramilitary Rapid Support Forces (RSF) in the capital city of Khartoum, following a struggle for power.  

Civilians are now paying the highest price of the conflict, as the war erupted when Sudan was already experiencing its highest levels of humanitarian need in a decade, and simultaneously impacted by a period of floods and droughts. 

The Rapid Support Forces (RSF) was created in 2013 by then-President Omar al-Bashir in response to the issuance of arrest warrants by the International Criminal Court (ICC) for intentionally directing attacks against an important part of the civilian population of Darfur, Sudan. However, the court could not enforce the arrest warrants due to the absence of its own police force.

In October 2025, the Rapid Support Forces captured the city of El Fasher and killed more than 6,000 people within the first three days of capture. On July 3 2026, UN Human Rights Chief, Volker Türk, observed that El-Obeid, the capital of the North Kordofan, which has over half a million residents, together with at least 100,000 internally displaced persons, has been facing “siege-like conditions” for 18 months. The UN also verified 15 drone strikes on El Obeid, which killed at least 45 civilians. The Rapid Support Forces now have control over all surrounding routes of the city, except those towards the East.

Sudan tops the International Rescue Committee’s annual emergency watchlist, becoming the world’s largest displacement and hunger crisis. The war has now resulted in the displacement of more than six million people internally, while forcing 4.5 million to seek shelter across the borders of Sudan. 

A recent report published by the Independent International Fact-Finding Mission for Sudan on September 1st mentions that “external support is sustaining military operations and expanding the capabilities of the parties to Sudan’s conflict, with grave consequences for civilians.” 

The foreign individuals and entities identified by the fact-finding mission–reportedly in the United Arab Emirates, Chad, southeastern Libya and Puntland in Somalia–provide weapons, foreign fighters, and other military support to the parties. 

The report also mentions that Rapid Support Forces drone operations in June 2026 repeatedly affected electricity, fuel and other infrastructure serving El-Obeid, resulting in reduction of already limited healthcare capacity. 

On the other hand, the Sudanese Armed Forces carried out a drone strike in June on a public market. “Women and children were repeatedly among those killed and injured in drone attacks from both sides,” said the Mission. 

The Rome Statute of the International Criminal Court affirms that such intentional attacks constitute war crimes, and may constitute crimes against humanity “when committed as part of a widespread or systematic attack directed against any civilian population, with knowledge of the attack.”

Based on the details outlined in the report, the Mission has concluded with reasonable grounds that both the SAF and RSF committed serious violations of international humanitarian law.

Following the publication of this report, the UN High Commissioner for Human Rights called “for an immediate ceasefire, an end to foreign involvement, and a return to inclusive rule.” 

Moreover, the World Health Organization representative in Sudan visited three of Khartoum State’s main referral and teaching hospitals that served patients from throughout Khartoum and accepted referrals from across Sudan before the conflict. All three hospitals’ building and medical equipment suffered extensive damage, with destroyed operation theatres, lost equipment, and collapsed wards. 

International Humanitarian Law obliges parties to an armed conflict to reduce unnecessary suffering and protect civilians and other non-combatants. Both parties to the conflict continue to commit serious violations of international human rights law and international humanitarian law. 

Reports claim that Sudanese Armed Forces and Rapid Support Forces have not reached a deal because both sides continue to profit from the war, as large quantities of gold flow out of the country while advanced weapons move into it. There is an urgent need to end atrocities all over Sudan. 

The International Criminal Court has been investigating allegations of war crimes in Darfur for more than 20 years, since the previous round of violence in the 2000s. In July 2026, the Deputy Chief Prosecutor Nazhat Shameem Khan told the BBC “the ICC had reached a breakthrough in its investigation into the massacres of civilians in the cities of el-Fasher and el-Geneina,” adding that RSF leaders have also been linked to crimes against humanity.

The UN Human Rights Chief has also previously called for accountability for the crimes that have and are continuing to be committed, to end the strikes on civilians and essential infrastructure, and to stop the flow of weapons. 

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Glossary

• Armed: Using or carrying weapons.

• Arrest Warrant: An official document, signed by a judge or other person in authority that gives the police permission to arrest someone.

• Atrocities: An extremely cruel, violent or shocking act. 

• Civilian: A person who is not a member of the police or the armed forces.

• Clash: To fight or argue.

• Crimes against humanity: A widespread or systematic attack directed against a civilian population. 

• Conflict: An active disagreement between people with opposing opinions or principles.

• Displacement: The situation in which people are forced to leave the place where they normally live.

• Drone Strike: An occasion when a place is hit by a drone or by a bomb dropped from a drone.

• Hospital Ward: Block forming a division of a hospital (or a suite of rooms) shared by patients who need a similar kind of care 

• Humanitarian Crisis: An event (or series of events) that poses a critical threat to the health, safety, security, and/or well-being of a large group of people.

• Internally Displaced People: The people who are forced to flee their homes by conflict, violence, persecution or disasters, however, unlike refugees, they remain within their own country. 

• International Criminal Court: It investigates and, where warranted, tries individuals charged with the gravest crimes of concern to the international community: genocide, war crimes, crimes against humanity and the crime of aggression.

• Non-combatant: A person, especially in the armed forces, who does not fight in a war, for example a priest or a doctor.

• Obliges: To force someone to do something, or to make it necessary for someone to do something. 

• Reasonable Grounds: A belief about something based on more than a feeling or suspicion.

• Siege: The surrounding of a place by an armed force in order to defeat those defending it.

• Struggle: To experience difficulty and make a very great effort in order to do something.

• Sustain: To cause or allow something to continue for a period of time.

• Violence: Using force to hurt or attack.

• War: Armed fighting between two or more countries or groups.