UNITED NATIONS — The head of the United Nations on Thursday called on the international community to mobilize and do everything possible to stop the war in Sudan. He said that “what is happening is terrible.”
Secretary General António Guterres said there is no military solution to the conflict between forces supporting rival generals, which began in mid-April 2023, and stressed that continued fighting “will not bring any solution, so we must stop this as soon as possible. ”
Guterres told a UN press conference that it is time for the warring rivals – the Sudanese army, General Abdel Fattah Burhan, and the commander of the paramilitary Rapid Support Forces, General Mohamed Hamdan Dagalo – to start talking about ending the conflict, which has caused fatalities. at least 12,000 people and more than 7 million fled their homes.
The UN is working with the regional group IGAD, the African Union and the Arab League, and Guterres expressed hope that he will meet them at the upcoming AU summit on February 17 and 18 in Addis Ababa, Ethiopia, “to see how we can combine our efforts to bring these two generals to the table” and reach a ceasefire and create the conditions to get humanitarian aid to Sudan for people in “desperate plight.”
UN humanitarian chief Martin Griffiths told a news conference in Geneva on Wednesday that the rival generals very recently assured him they would attend a meeting in Switzerland to discuss humanitarian issues and Sudan’s besieged civilians. “I’m still waiting to see when that happens,” Griffiths said.
Sudan plunged into chaos last April with street fighting between the generals’ rival forces in the capital Khartoum spreading to other areas. West Darfur, wracked by bloodshed and atrocities in 2003, has been an epicenter of the current conflict, an arena of ethnic violence where paramilitary forces and allied Arab militias have attacked African ethnic groups.
In 2005, the Security Council referred the situation in Darfur to the International Criminal Court, which, under the Rome Statute that established the tribunal, is charged with investigating and prosecuting the world’s worst atrocities – war crimes, crimes against humanity and genocide – and the crime of aggression.
ICC prosecutor Karim Khan told the council in late January that it was “quite stunning” to visit several refugee camps in Chad, which borders Darfur. People who lived through the 2003 Darfur conflict spontaneously told him that what is happening today “is the worst.” ever.”
“Based on the work of my office, it is my clear finding, my clear assessment, that there are reasons to believe that Rome Statute crimes are currently being committed in Darfur by both the Sudanese Armed Forces and the Rapid Support Forces and affiliated groups.” Khan said.
Secretary-General Guterres urged support for the ICC, saying its role in prosecuting those involved in “atrocities” in Darfur “is absolutely essential.”
Humanitarian chief Griffith and U.N. refugee chief Filippo Grandi called for $4.1 billion in international aid for embattled civilians in Sudan, amid signs some may be starving after nearly a year of war.
The agencies said half of Sudan’s population, or about 25 million people, need support and protection, and that the requested resources would go towards helping millions of citizens in Sudan and others who have fled abroad.