STATEMENT BY MARTHA AMA AKYAA POBEE, SPECIAL REREPRESENTATIVE OF THE SECRETARY-GENERAL
SECURITY COUNCIL BRIEFING
New York
18 SEPTEMBER 2024
I thank you, Mr. President, for convening today’s meeting on the situation in the Sudan, following alarming reports of yet another escalation of fighting in El Fasher. This recent intensification is occurring as devastating clashes continue in many other parts of the Sudan, including around greater Khartoum and Sennar.
Even while millions of lives are at risk across the Sudan, hundreds of thousands of civilians trapped in El Fasher are now at risk of the consequences of mass violence as fighting engulfs the city. It has further exposed the extremely vulnerable population, including internally displaced persons living in large camps near El Fasher. The violence has also affected healthcare facilities.
Open sources report that a fresh round of large-scale fighting broke out in El Fasher on 12 September. The Rapid Support Forces (RSF) launched a coordinated attack on the city from multiple directions. The Sudanese armed forces and affiliated armed movements reportedly repelled the attack in the hours and days that followed.
The current wave of fighting marks the latest chapter of violence in El Fasher and occurs amid a months-long siege and attack on the city at the hands of the Rapid Support Forces. That has caused appalling levels of suffering for the civilian population, including famine conditions in Zamzam camp, south of El Fasher, among other locations.
For months, international partners have engaged individually and collectively in trying to secure a de-escalation of the situation and prevent more suffering in El Fasher. The Council adopted resolution 2736 (2024), calling on the Rapid Support Forces to halt the siege of El Fasher and for an immediate end to the fighting. Yet, prevention efforts to avert further military escalation in El Fasher have failed. Hundreds of thousands of civilians remain trapped in the city and are at risk of mass violence.
The stakes could not be higher. The risk of the escalation of fighting fuelling a dangerous ethnic dimension of this conflict is well known. So are the destabilizing effects for the entire region. The Secretary-General has consistently called on the parties to de-escalate the situation in El Fasher and spare civilians from further suffering. He has warned of the grave and unpredictable ramifications of an escalation.
The Personal Envoy of the Secretary-General for the Sudan, Mr. Ramtane Lamamra, has directly engaged the belligerents, including during the proximity talks in Geneva in July, and supported the mediation efforts of the United States, Saudi Arabia and Switzerland in August. Mr. Lamamra most recently engaged with the Sudanese authorities during a visit to Port Sudan at the end of August, alongside the Deputy Secretary-General.
The impetus underpinning the Organization’s collective efforts during this recent season of diplomacy has been to amplify the importance of the protection of civilians in El Fasher and across the entirety of the Sudan. The protection of civilians is the responsibility of the Government of the Sudan, first and foremost. However, it is incumbent upon all warring parties in the Sudan to respect and uphold their obligations under international human rights and humanitarian law.
The Rapid Support Forces submitted a set of unilateral commitments to the Secretary-General on how to strengthen the protection of civilians pursuant to the conclusion of the proximity talks in Geneva in July, under the auspices of Personal Envoy Lamamra. The Rapid Support Forces must live up to their commitments and take steps to implement them without delay.
An agreement of a ceasefire would be the single most effective way to strengthen civilian protection. That is true for El Fasher and all of the Sudan. However, progress in agreeing on a nationwide ceasefire and securing progress on other commitments, such as those in the Jeddah Declaration of Commitment to Protect the Civilians of Sudan, has proven difficult to achieve. Yet it is critical that the conflict parties take immediate action towards implementation of the Jeddah Declaration of Commitment to Protect the Civilians of Sudan, of 11 May 2023, in accordance with the respective resolutions of the Council. To that end, it is notable that the Aligned for Advancing Lifesaving and Peace in Sudan group, which met in Geneva last month, presented the conflict parties a proposal for a compliance mechanism to resolve disputes, receive complaints and address problems arising in relation to the implementation of commitments around the protection or civilians under existing agreements, including the Jeddah Declaration, and international humanitarian and human rights law. We urge the conflict parties to give serious consideration to that proposed modality.
Efforts have also been made to explore possibilities for local ceasefires, including by drawing on local actors. Prior to the deterioration of the situation in El Fasher, a local ceasefire protected the city’s population for almost a year. A return to such an arrangement in El Fasher, and similar short-term solutions in other locations, must continue to be pursued. Besides calling on the parties to de-escalate the fighting in El Fasher, resolution 2736 (2024) also contains a request for the Secretary-General, in consultation with the Sudanese authorities and regional stakeholders, to make further recommendations for the protection of civilians in the Sudan. Work on those recommendations, informed by the outcomes of the proximity talks convened by Personal Envoy Lamamra and the Secretariat’s wide-ranging consultations with key stakeholders, is ongoing and will be presented to the Security Council in October.
We take note of the Council’s recent adoption of resolution 2750 (2024), further extending the sanctions regime first established by resolution 1591 (2005). The conflict in the Sudan is not occurring in a vacuum; the flames of armed violence continue to be fanned by inflows of weapons to the Sudan. We call on all Member States to refrain from supplying arms to the Sudan and to observe the arms embargo for Darfur, in keeping with relevant Council resolutions.
As the violence escalates in El Fasher and continues to spread across the Sudan, the risks of atrocities multiply, including egregious violence against women. Both the Sudanese armed forces and the RSF, and their respective allied groups and militias, continue to show complete disregard for international human rights and humanitarian law. Violations include summary executions, abductions and enforced disappearances and arbitrary and incommunicado detention of civilians by both parties, subjecting many to torture and other human rights violations. We are alarmed by the shrinking civic space as well as by the ethnically motivated attacks and hate speech and the use of sexual violence as a weapon of war. The prevailing impunity and lack of accountability are a major challenge in the Sudan. Human rights violations must stop. Perpetrators must be held accountable for their crimes.
Immediate action is needed to halt the fighting in El Fasher. We urge members of the Security Council to employ their collective leverage to help protect the population caught up in the crossfire. The opening of the session of the General Assembly marks an additional opportunity for Member States and the United Nations alike to raise the profile of the escalating tragedy. Relevant external players must act responsibly and use their leverage over the warring parties to advance peace efforts. Personal Envoy Lamamra will continue coordinating international mediation efforts in the Sudan to promote dialogue to end the war, while advancing incremental progress on key issues such as a cessation of hostilities, the protection of civilians and humanitarian access.
A dangerous new reality has now emerged in the wake of the El Fasher escalation, with grave and unpredictable ramifications. It risks a widening and entrenchment of the armed conflict, an even deeper ethnic polarization of Sudanese society and a further destabilization of the region. The United Nations remains committed to working with all relevant stakeholders to bring an end to the conflict, starting with an immediate cessation of hostilities.