UN investigators urge impartial force as Sudan war crimes intensify

N.-backed human rights investigators called Friday for the establishment of an “independent and impartial force” to safeguard civilians in Sudan, condemning both warring sides for war crimes such as murder, mutilation and torture.

They also warned that foreign governments supplying arms or financial support could be complicit.

In their first report since being formed by the U.N.’s main human rights body last October, the fact-finding team further accused the paramilitary Rapid Support Forces and their allies of committing crimes against humanity, including rape, sexual slavery, and persecution based on ethnicity and gender.

The experts called for expanding an arms embargo on Sudan’s long-restive western Darfur region to the entire country.

The findings from the team, mandated by the 47-country Human Rights Council, come as more than 10 million people have been driven from their homes – including over 2 million to neighboring countries – and famine has broken out in a large camp for displaced people in Darfur.

The conflict, which erupted in April last year, has killed thousands, and humanitarian groups are struggling to gain access to those in need. In December, the U.N. Security Council voted to end the world body’s political mission in the country under pressure from Sudan’s military leadership.

While the killings, displacements, and forced starvation have been widely reported, the call for the creation of an independent force marks the latest sign of desperation from rights advocates, both within the country and abroad, to halt the bloodshed, displacement, and food crisis.

“Given the failure of the parties to protect civilians so far, the fact-finding mission recommends the deployment of an independent and impartial force with a mandate to protect civilians in Sudan,” the team’s report said.

The experts did not specify what might constitute that force, nor did they identify which countries might be complicit in the crimes through their backing of rival sides. Sudan’s military has accused the United Arab Emirates of supporting the RSF, a claim the Gulf nation has denied.

Neighboring Egypt is among the backers of Sudan’s armed forces.

“The fact-finding mission believes that fighting will stop once the arms flow stops,” the report said. It called for an immediate end to funneling weapons, ammunition, and other support to any side, “as there is a risk that those supplying arms may be complicit in grave violations of human rights and humanitarian law.”

The experts focused on the period from January to August this year. They visited three neighboring countries and took testimonies from over 180 survivors, relatives, and witnesses to the conflict, which has now spread to 14 of Sudan’s 18 states.

Earlier this month, talks in Geneva, convened by the United States, Switzerland, and Saudi Arabia, made some progress in getting aid into Sudan, but mediators lamented the lack of participation by Sudan’s armed forces. Egypt, the UAE, the African Union, and the United Nations were also involved in the talks.