EU Statement – UN General Assembly 3rd Committee: Interactive dialogue with the Chair of the International Fact-Finding Mission for the Sudan

Chair,

I have the honour to speak on behalf of the European Union and its Member States.

We commend the Fact-Finding Mission (FFM) for its vital work and commitment to advancing justice and accountability efforts in Sudan. We support its mandate and recent extension for another year. 

The latest FFM report once again underlines the alarming scale and pervasiveness of human rights violations and abuses in Sudan. 

We express our great concern at the detailed, concrete and grave findings, and we call on all States and external actors to refrain from any support to the warring parties and actions that fuel the conflict, aggravate the fallout on civilians and constrain prospects for an end to the conflict. We reiterate our support to the unity and territorial integrity of Sudan and for an inclusive Sudanese-led transition process that will lead up to civilian governance. 

The EU strongly condemns the deliberate and indiscriminate targeting of civilians, humanitarian personnel, and critical infrastructure, aggravated through the increasing use of drones, and the endangerment of water infrastructure, leaving up to 19 million civilians without access to safe drinking water, with consequences extending beyond the point of impact, particularly on women and children, as documented by the FFM. We express grave concern at the acute food insecurity and risk of famine affecting millions of civilians in Sudan. We call on all parties to the conflict to comply fully with their obligations under international humanitarian law and human rights law and strongly emphasize that this must be strictly observed. The protection of civilians and humanitarian personnel must be an immediate priority, and accountability for violations and abuses of human rights and of international humanitarian law, is essential. We also condemn, in the strongest possible terms, the unprecedented scale of conflict-relative sexual violence and its widespread use as a method of war. The EU calls for the immediate end to attacks on civilians, including gender-based violence, and critical infrastructure and urges both the SAF and RSF to agree to an immediate cessation of hostilities. 

We strongly call on all States to respect the UN arms embargo and refrain from arms deliveries.

The EU will continue to do its utmost, including with international accountability mechanisms, to bring perpetrators to justice. The EU continues to support the work of the ICC and the UN and calls on Sudan to cooperate with the Independent Expert in Sudan and with the Independent International Fact-Finding Mission. The EU will continue to advocate for expanding the mandate of the ICC and of the arms embargo to the whole country.

Chair, how can we support your work to enhance accountability for human rights violations in Sudan?

Thank you.