The Amnesty International has called for an immediate and unconditional ceasefire in Sudan, urging African leaders and the international community to take urgent steps to end the conflict and protect civilians, particularly in the war-ravaged Darfur region.
The Country Director of Amnesty International Nigeria, Mr Isa Sanusi, made the call at a one-day stakeholder engagement on the human rights and humanitarian situation in Sudan held on Monday in Kano.
Kano Times reports that the event brought together representatives of government institutions, professional bodies, civil society organisations, members of the diplomatic community and the Sudanese community in Nigeria.
The programme also featured the unveiling of Amnesty International’s report titled, “City Under Siege, Children Under Fire: Rapid Support Forces’ Crimes Against Humanity in North Darfur,” produced in collaboration with Amnesty International’s East and Southern Africa Regional Office (ESARO).
According to the organisation, the report is based on an eight-month investigation involving 247 interviews, including testimonies from 39 children.
It alleged that the Rapid Support Forces (RSF) committed crimes against humanity and carried out acts consistent with ethnic cleansing against predominantly Zaghawa communities during the siege and eventual capture of El Fasher, the capital of North Darfur.
Sanusi said the engagement was organised to mobilise solidarity for the Sudanese people and draw attention to the worsening humanitarian crisis.
“We are calling for an immediate and unconditional ceasefire in Sudan. The humanitarian situation continues to deteriorate, and civilians are paying the highest price,” he said.
He urged participants to use their influence to encourage the Nigerian Government and the African Union to play a more active role in securing a lasting ceasefire and ensuring the protection of civilians.
Also speaking, Sudan Researcher at Amnesty International’s ESARO, Abdallah Hassan, said the organisation documented eight categories of crimes against humanity allegedly committed by the RSF.
According to him, the alleged crimes include murder, extermination, forcible transfer, imprisonment, torture, rape, sexual slavery, persecution and other forms of sexual violence.
“Children were among the worst affected. Many were deliberately targeted, killed, injured, abducted, forcibly recruited into armed groups, or displaced from their communities,” Hassan said.
He added that the prolonged siege of El Fasher severely restricted humanitarian assistance and food supplies, creating famine-like conditions for civilians trapped in the city.
Amnesty International called for the deployment of a properly resourced international civilian protection force under the African Union and the United Nations, the expansion of the existing Darfur arms embargo to cover the entire Sudan, stronger protection for children and other vulnerable groups, and effective accountability mechanisms to ensure perpetrators of atrocities are brought to justice.
Kano Times reports that the call comes amid growing international concern over the conflict in Sudan, with ongoing investigations by international bodies into alleged atrocities committed during the war.
