DNHR has joined six other human rights organizations calling on the UN Human Rights Council to renew the mandate of the Independent International Fact-Finding Mission for the Sudan. This follows the mission’s latest report on escalating militarization, external support networks, and continuing grave violations against civilians.
What the Report Found
The report highlights the expanding use of long-range drones, which has broadened the geographic reach of military operations and exposed civilians to greater risk. The mission concluded that both the Sudanese Armed Forces (SAF) and the Rapid Support Forces (RSF) committed serious violations of international law during drone operations, some of which may amount to war crimes. Documented attacks hit hospitals, markets, schools, displacement sites, and civilian infrastructure.
Separately, the report examines the external support sustaining the conflict, including transnational networks recruiting, transporting, training, and deploying fighters, alongside the supply of weapons, drones, and technical assistance. According to the mission, this support has strengthened conflict parties’ capacity to conduct long-range operations, despite earlier findings of war crimes and conduct indicative of a risk of genocide in El Fasher.
Why the Signatories Say the Mandate Must Continue
Seven organizations signed this statement: DNHR, Committee for Justice, AWAFY Sudanese Organization, Sudan Rights Watch Network, Doroty Center for Justice and Accountability, Kayn for Women Empowerment Organization, and Al Salam Organization for Humanitarian Aid. Together, they argue that the report’s significance extends beyond documenting violations, providing evidence that explains the structures sustaining the conflict, including arms supply routes and financing networks. The groups describe this information as essential for preventing further violations and pursuing accountability.
Ongoing violations, a widening conflict, and growing numbers of actors providing military assistance make an independent investigative mechanism indispensable, especially given restrictions on access to information inside Sudan. Compounding this, the Sudanese government has failed to cooperate with the mission despite repeated requests for engagement.
What the Coalition Is Calling For
The signatories are urging the Human Rights Council to renew the mission’s mandate, preserving its independence and ensuring it receives the resources needed to continue investigating violations, identifying those responsible, and preserving evidence for accountability efforts. They describe this renewal as a human rights and legal imperative, not a political option, given the scale of ongoing abuses.
Beyond the mandate itself, the coalition calls on all parties to the conflict, and on relevant states and actors, to cooperate fully with the mission. They are also urging the international community to implement the report’s recommendations: halting weapons and drone transfers where there is a substantial risk of their use in serious violations, strengthening arms-tracking mechanisms, and pursuing accountability across the full chain of responsibility, from those who commit violations to those who finance, arm, or otherwise enable them.
DNHR’s Position
DNHR stands with its fellow signatories in affirming that civilian protection and accountability in Sudan cannot be achieved without independent, transparent investigation. DNHR calls on the Human Rights Council and UN member states to renew the Fact-Finding Mission’s mandate without delay.
Beyond the mandate, DNHR calls on all states named in the mission’s findings to cooperate fully and take concrete steps to shut down the networks sustaining this conflict.