As the brutal war in Sudan shows no signs of ending after nearly three years of raging conflict, UN human rights chief Volker Türk called on the international community on Monday to intervene immediately and stop mass killings and other flagrant war crimes against civilians. Meanwhile, on Tuesday, UN aid agencies warned that famine and malnutrition continue to spread across Sudan, with children wasting away while the world looks away.
Briefing the UN Human Rights Council (HRC) in Geneva on the "preventable human rights catastrophe" that occurred in North Darfur's capital, El Fasher, last October, the UN High Commissioner for Human Rights once again sounded the alarm over the deadly conflict in Sudan. He said the new danger is a possible repeat of this catastrophe in the Kordofan region.
"The events that unfolded in El Fasher in Sudan last October were a preventable human rights catastrophe. After imposing 18 months of siege, starvation and bombardment, the Rapid Support Forces [RSF] unleashed a wave of intense violence, in which thousands of people were killed in a matter of days, and tens of thousands fled in terror," Türk said.
“Our collective job is to hold those responsible accountable, and to make sure this never happens again,” he stressed.
Türk said since his last briefing of the HRC on El Fasher he had visited Sudan and heard firsthand accounts from some of those who survived the final offensive. He said that he had rarely seen people so traumatized by their experiences.
“They consistently reported mass killings and summary executions of civilians and those no longer participating in hostilities, both inside the city and as people fled. They spoke of rape and other sexual violence, torture and ill-treatment, detention, disappearances and abductions for ransom,” he said.
He gave one horrific example: people who fled to separate locations thousands of kilometers apart gave consistent accounts of the mass killing of hundreds of people sheltering at El Fasher University. Others spoke of attacks on health facilities and healthcare workers.
“We heard convincing testimony that some victims were targeted based on their non-Arab ethnicity – in particular, members of the Zaghawa ethnic group. Survivors also spoke of seeing piles of dead bodies along roads leading away from El Fasher, in an apocalyptic scene that one person likened to the Day of Judgment,” the High Commissioner said.
Türk specifically condemned the systematic use of sexual violence as a weapon of war by the RSF and its allied militia.
"During my visit, I met survivors who gave consistent and harrowing testimony of gang rape and other sexual violence against women and girls," he said.
One victim at a camp for internally displaced people described a horrific incident in which her father was killed while trying to prevent her rape, and her brother was shot.
“They cut the clothes of the female, all the girls, they cut their clothes and left them naked,” she told the UN human rights chief.
The RSF has also been accused of abducting civilians, primarily men and adolescent boys, for ransom, with thousands still missing or believed to be held in inhumane conditions. Former detainees reported being held at the El Fasher Children’s Hospital, where the bodies of those who died were reportedly buried nearby.
“RSF fighters and their allies abducted people as they fled and charged exorbitant ransoms for their release. Most victims were men and adolescent boys judged to be of fighting age, but women and children were also targeted,” the human rights chief said.
“Thousands remain missing. Some were undoubtedly killed; others are believed to be held in inhumane detention conditions, subjected to torture and ill-treatment. Thousands were reportedly transferred to Tagris prison in Nyala, South Darfur, where we know conditions are horrendous.”
The RSF and its allies detained people mainly perceived as being affiliated with the Sudanese Armed Forces (SAF) and their allied Joint Forces, as well as government officials, medical professionals, journalists, teachers, and local humanitarian volunteers.
Türk noted that the International Criminal Court (ICC) assessed that war crimes and crimes against humanity occurred during the RSF's siege of El Fasher. He emphasized that his office had previously warned of the potential for mass atrocities in El Fasher, including during the April 2025 offensive on Zamzam camp.
"The threat was clear, but our warnings were ignored," he stated.
Türk called on the international community to do better.
“If we stand by, wringing our hands while armies and armed groups commit well-flagged international crimes, we can only expect worse to come,” he said.
Extreme concerns about fighting in Kordofan region
The High Commissioner expressed extreme concern that these crimes, violations, and abuses could be repeated in Kordofan, where fighting has intensified since El Fasher was captured.
Over the past two weeks, the Sudanese Armed Forces and allied Joint Forces have broken the sieges of the towns of Kadugli and Dilling. However, both sides continue to conduct drone strikes, resulting in dozens of civilian deaths and injuries. Civilians are at risk of summary executions, sexual violence, arbitrary detention, and family separation.
“Nearly three years into this conflict, my Office continues to document flagrant violations of international humanitarian law and violations and abuses of international human rights law, with no effective measures to address or prevent them,” Türk said.
“Hate speech is a frequent catalyst for ethnically motivated violence. Leaders use dehumanizing rhetoric against communities to justify atrocities, mobilize fighters, and deepen divisions. I myself saw the effects of that language in the stories and faces of the survivors I met.”
He urged every state to consider what it could have done to prevent the deaths of many thousands of civilians in El Fasher and to prevent it from happening again elsewhere in Sudan.
"My office has drawn up a list of confidence building measures, based on human rights, that are intended to support mediation efforts and foster trust. I have shared these with both parties to the conflict," he said.
"All countries need to get behind these concrete steps to protect civilians and de-escalate violence, and pressure the parties to abide by their legal obligations."
UN humanitarians: Sick and starving children "wasting away"
Meanwhile, relentless violence, famine, and disease are taking a heavy toll on Sudan’s children, and attacks on healthcare facilities and limited access to aid are hindering efforts to help them, UN humanitarian agencies warned on Tuesday.
Ricardo Pires, spokesperson for the United Nations Children’s Fund (UNICEF), told reporters in Geneva that more than half of all children in parts of North Darfur are acutely malnourished.
This warning follows the release of new data from the Integrated Food Security Phase Classification (IPC), a UN-backed global food security monitoring system. The data comes from three localities in North Darfur: Um Baru, Kernoi, and At Tine and indicates "catastrophic" malnutrition rates.
“Extreme hunger and malnutrition come for children first, the youngest, the smallest, the most vulnerable,” Pires said.
“In Sudan, it's spreading [...]. These are children between six months and five years old, and they are running out of time.”
The UNICEF spokesperson emphasized that famine thresholds for malnutrition have been surpassed in areas that were not previously considered at risk, including Um Baru and Kernoi. He said that conflict, mass displacement, the collapse of services, and blocked access, which have sparked starvation alerts for these localities, exist "across vast swathes of Sudan."
“If famine is looming there, it can take hold anywhere,” he insisted.
Pires also warned of the prevalence of disease as a further threat to children’s survival.
“These children are not just hungry,” he said.
“Nearly half of all children in At Tine had been sick in the previous two weeks. Fever, diarrhea, respiratory infections, low vaccination coverage, unsafe water and a collapsing health system are turning treatable illnesses into death sentences for already malnourished children.”
He urged the world to "stop looking away" from Sudan's children, warning that more than half of the children in North Darfur's Um Baru are "wasting away while we watch."
“That is not a statistic. Those are children with names and a future that are being stolen,” the UNICEF spokesperson insisted.
Shible Sahbani, the UN World Health Organization (WHO)’s representative in Sudan, told reporters that while the displaced require “urgent” care, the health system has been “ravaged by attacks, loss and damage of equipment and supplies, a shortage of health workforce and operational funds”.
Since the start of the war in April 2023, WHO has verified 205 attacks on health care that have led to 1,924 deaths and 529 injuries, Sahbani said.
“Such attacks deprive communities of care for years to come, instilling terror in patients and health workers and creating unsurmountable barriers to life-saving treatment,” he added.
Meanwhile, the country faces multiple disease outbreaks, including cholera, malaria, dengue and measles.
While WHO and partners are supporting the response to these outbreaks, Sahbani insisted on the need for greater access and protection of health workers and facilities, in line with international humanitarian law.
“Patients and healthcare workers should not risk death while seeking and providing care,” he said.
“Above all, we call for peace [...] Peace is long due for Sudan.”