Sudan: High Commissioner's Report Vital To Advance Accountability Efforts, Restore Civilian Rule

Geneva – Sudan's de facto authority should implement the recommendations of the report of the United Nations High Commissioner for Human Rights on rights violations in the country after the military coup, including respecting and protecting human rights, especially the right to life, freedom of opinion and expression, and freedom of peaceful assembly, Euro-Med Human Rights Monitor said Thursday in a statement.

International pressure on Sudan's de facto authority should be intensified to end the military coup of 25 October 2021, which has been followed by a brutal campaign against human rights, including extrajudicial killings, arbitrary detentions, and restrictions on individuals and entities' civil and political rights.

Since it seized power last October, the army leadership has committed serious human rights violations that include the use of lethal force against demonstrators; violating individuals' freedom of opinion, expression, peaceful assembly, movement, and movement; disrupting the work of the media; and imposing arbitrary restrictions on their activities.

At its 50th session on Wednesday, the Human Rights Council held an enhanced interactive dialogue to discuss the situation in Sudan, during which Deputy High Commissioner for Human Rights Nada Al-Nashif, on behalf of High Commissioner Michelle Bachelet, reviewed a UN report on the human rights situation in Sudan between 25 October 2021 and 10 April 2022.

The UN report confirmed that Sudanese security forces used excessive force in dealing with protests rejecting the military coup, causing the death of 101 demonstrators and wounding more than 5000 others. The report also called attention to arbitrary arrest campaigns and documented about 16 cases of sexual and gender-based violence against demonstrators during the past months.

Euro-Med Monitor's Chief Media Officer, Nour Olwan, said: "The UN's and human rights organizations' reports and conclusions on the situation in Sudan are significant and can be relied upon to hold human rights violators accountable, including those who killed or wounded demonstrators or helped detain hundreds of protesters arbitrarily.

"Given their black record, we cannot trust the statements of Sudanese officials regarding the measures taken to protect human rights in the country. We renew the call for an international investigation into all violations. While the Sudanese Minister of Justice said during the [recent UN] session that the investigation committee is about to finish its work, we cannot be sure of its independence and integrity when it comes to investigating security violations against demonstrators".

The international community must take the UN's and human rights institutions' reports on the human rights situation in Sudan seriously, put pressure on the de facto authority to end its military coup and its ramifications, and launch an independent international investigation into the violations that have taken place since 25 October 2021.

The de facto authority must stop violence against peaceful demonstrators, respect their right to express opinion and to peaceful assembly, and end all arbitrary restrictions it illegally imposes on individuals and civil institutions.

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