Responding to the Human Rights and Humanitarian Crisis Caused by the Ongoing Armed Conflict in the Sudan

A/HRC/RES/60/3View PDF

Who created this mandate?

A document of the Human Rights Council, under agenda item 2Annual report of the United Nations High Commissioner for Human Rights and reports of the Office of the High Commissioner and the Secretary-General, published in 2025.

What other versions does this mandate have?

3 versions · 2023–2025

2025A/HRC/RES/60/3Responding to the human rights and humanitarian crisis caused by the ongoing armed conflict in the SudanLatestCompare with previous version
2024A/HRC/RES/57/2Responding to the human rights and humanitarian crisis caused by the ongoing armed conflict in the SudanCompare with previous version
2023A/HRC/RES/54/2Responding to the human rights and humanitarian crisis caused by the ongoing armed conflict in the Sudan

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1 entity

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What subjects does this mandate have?

8 topics

Accountability Fact-Finding Missions Human Rights Human Rights in Armed Conflicts Human Rights Violations Humanitarian Assistance Humanitarian Emergencies Sudan

What does this mandate say?

25 operative paragraphs

Reiterates its strong condemnation of the continuing armed conflict between the Sudanese Armed Forces and the Rapid Support Forces and their associated and allied forces and all reported violations of international humanitarian law and all violations and abuses of human rights committed in this context, including alleged war crimes and crimes against humanity, and echoes the similar condemnations expressed by the Secretary-General, the Security Council, the Peace and Security Council of the African Union, the African Commission on Human and Peoples’ Rights, the Intergovernmental Authority on Development, other relevant regional and subregional bodies, individual States and civil society organizations;

Expresses its grave concern at the ongoing dire humanitarian and human rights crisis in the Sudan since the start of the current armed conflict on 15 April 2023, with 30 million people in need of humanitarian assistance and up to 12 million people displaced, including 4 million people as refugees into neighbouring States, at the spread of cholera across the Sudan and beyond its borders into neighbouring States, and at reports by the Famine Review Committee of the Integrated Food Security Phase Classification that 24.6 million people – more than 50 per cent of the population – are experiencing severe levels of acute food insecurity, at phase 3 (“crisis”) or higher, including 638,000 people at phase 5 (“catastrophe/famine”), and that famine conditions already present in Zamzam camp, in North Darfur, have spread to Abu Shawk and Salam camps and to the western Nuba Mountains, with such conditions very likely to be present also in other areas of the Sudan;

Reiterates its call for an immediate and complete ceasefire by all parties, without preconditions, the establishment of an independent monitoring mechanism of the ceasefire, the rehabilitation of critical basic infrastructure, a negotiated and peaceful resolution to the conflict on the basis of inclusive, Sudan-owned and Sudan-led dialogue, with the active participation of Sudanese civilian actors, including women, and the recommitment of all parties to end all attempts at establishing parallel governing structures and to establish, with the people of the Sudan, a credible and inclusive process of political transition, towards a democratically elected national Government following a civilian-led transition period;

Calls for the full implementation of the Jeddah Declaration of Commitment to Protect the Civilians of Sudan, requests the parties to ensure and facilitate immediate, safe and unhindered humanitarian access, including cross-border and cross-line access, reiterates that humanitarian workers must be respected and protected at all times and condemns the deprivation by all parties to the conflict of essential humanitarian assistance, across several areas of the Sudan, and the attacks on humanitarian workers and looting of humanitarian convoys, warehouses and aid agencies, including by the Rapid Support Forces and other affiliated militias;

Welcomes the decision of the Sudanese authorities to extend the authorization of humanitarian access through the Adré border crossing from Chad for an additional three-month period and calls for these measures to be sustained permanently and for unimpeded aid delivery to be facilitated through all possible routes into and within the country, and reiterates its calls to all parties of the conflict to remove any bureaucratic impediments and operational conditions that unduly obstruct the movement of humanitarian personnel, goods and supplies in reaching those most in need;

Condemns the violations of international humanitarian law and violations and abuses of human rights reported in the Darfur region of the Sudan, including shelling across civilian neighbourhoods, resulting in civilian deaths, injuries, the destruction of towns and critical infrastructure – including hospitals, schools, electricity plants, telecommunications infrastructure, religious, historical, cultural and community sites and places of worship – by both sides, and acts of sexual and gender-based violence, ethnically motivated attacks on civilians and looting by the Rapid Support Forces and allied militia, and expresses its deep concern at the clear parallels between these developments and previous violations and abuses in Darfur;

Expresses its grave concern at reported incidents of the indiscriminate use of force against civilians, including children, by parties to the conflict, including indiscriminate aerial bombardments by the Sudanese Armed Forces and the use of drones against critical infrastructure in Port Sudan by the Rapid Support Forces, reprisal killings by the Sudanese Armed Forces following their recapture of Khartoum and extrajudicial killings of civilians by the Rapid Support Forces in detention centres around Khartoum, artillery shelling by both parties resulting in civilian deaths and the destruction of civilian homes and critical infrastructure, including hospitals and schools, the illegal recruitment and use of children in armed conflict, and the use of torture against and the ill-treatment and life-threatening conditions faced by detainees held by both parties;

Condemns the continued escalation of violence in and around El Fasher, in North Darfur, particularly the large-scale offensive launched by the Rapid Support Forces on Zamzam and Abu Shawk camps, leaving more than 400,000 people displaced from Zamzam camp alone, trapped without access to humanitarian aid and exposed to further violence, primarily in El Fasher and Tawilah, and reiterates calls upon all parties to the conflict to ensure the protection of civilians, as required under international law, including by allowing civilians wishing to do so to move within or away from El Fasher to safer areas;

Expresses grave concern at the escalation of violence in Kordofan, including reported attacks on a number of villages by the Rapid Support Forces in North Kordofan and the alleged strike by the Sudanese Armed Forces on Al-Mujlad Hospital in West Kordofan resulting in a high number of civilian deaths, including health workers, at a time of rising humanitarian needs and a severe cholera outbreak in the region;

Expresses deep concern at reports by the United Nations Population Fund that gender-based violence is being used as a weapon of war, with more than 12 million people, primarily women and girls, at risk of sexual and gender-based violence, including rape, sexual slavery and sexual exploitation and abuse, and stresses the need for all parties to protect civilians and to ensure access to timely and quality services for survivors and the importance of providing survivor-centred responses to acts of sexual and gender-based violence while ensuring accountability for those who commit such acts;

Also expresses deep concern at the findings of the independent international fact-finding mission for the Sudan regarding the suspension of telecommunications services and seizure of critical infrastructure, which disrupted civilian access to essential services and hindered humanitarian coordination, and expresses grave concern at the systematic censorship and suppression of media freedom through arrests of and attacks and threats against journalists, contributing to widespread misinformation and worsening the humanitarian and human rights crisis;

Strongly deplores the reported killings, attacks, arbitrary detention and acts of intimidation and retaliation targeting humanitarian and health workers, including national and locally recruited personnel, human rights defenders, including women human rights defenders, community leaders, local actors, including mutual aid groups, public servants and local government workers, journalists and other media workers, students, lawyers and civil society actors, and targeting members of international organizations and the diplomatic community in the Sudan, which has a direct impact on the capacity of the international community to respond to the human rights and humanitarian crisis in the Sudan;

Urges all parties to the conflict in the Sudan to immediately de-escalate tensions, respect and protect civilians, including those who are humanitarian workers and health workers, and civilian infrastructure, and to allow civilians to move freely to gain access to the basic services and humanitarian assistance that they need, consistent with international law;

Urges the United Nations, together with the African Union, to accelerate consideration of practical options for enhancing the protection of civilians in the Sudan, in close collaboration with relevant stakeholders and in full recognition of the obligation of the Sudan to act in accordance with international humanitarian law and to protect its population from genocide, war crimes, ethnic cleansing and crimes against humanity;

Condemns all forms of external interference that fuels the conflict, urges all parties to the conflict, as well as external actors, to respect and uphold the unity and territorial integrity of the Sudan and reiterates the call by the fact-finding mission that material support to both parties be halted and that all States and entities respect and enforce the existing arms embargo in Darfur, in effect pursuant to Security Council resolution 1556 (2004) of 30 July 2004 and subsequent resolutions;

Commends Sudanese and regional relief and aid workers and local responders, including mutual aid groups, operating in the Sudan and along its borders for their bravery and work in challenging and dangerous circumstances to provide life-saving support to communities and calls for their protection, and also commends neighbouring countries that have hosted and provided assistance to refugees fleeing ongoing violence and recalls the importance under international law of respect by all States for the principle of non-refoulement;

Acknowledges the major burden on countries hosting refugees and the impact on neighbouring countries, expresses grave concern about the continuing gap in the provision of financial support for United Nations response plans in the Sudan and in neighbouring States and reiterates the need for scaled-up international support;

Stresses, once again, that ensuring accountability for violations of international humanitarian law and violations and abuses of human rights is central to any solution to the ongoing crisis in the Sudan, as well as to efforts to address the root causes of the armed conflict and prevent further instability in the Sudan, and underscores the urgency of initiating prompt, full, independent, impartial, transparent and credible investigations into all alleged abuses and violations by all parties to the conflict, to end impunity and hold accountable those responsible through robust and credible criminal justice processes, while noting the important role that the International Criminal Court can play in this regard;

Decides to extend the mandate of the independent international fact-finding mission for the Sudan for a period of one year;

Encourages the fact-finding mission to give due regard to ensuring the complementarity of its efforts with those of other actors, including independent national accountability efforts and regional investigations;

Requests the fact-finding mission to provide the Human Rights Council with an oral update on its work at its sixty-second session, to be followed by an enhanced interactive dialogue with the participation of a representative of civil society, and a comprehensive report at its sixty-third session, to be followed by an interactive dialogue, and to present the report to the General Assembly at its eighty-first session, to be followed by an interactive dialogue;

Requests the United Nations High Commissioner for Human Rights, with the assistance of the designated Expert on human rights in the Sudan, to submit to the Human Rights Council at its sixty-fourth session a comprehensive report on the situation of human rights in the Sudan and on violations and abuses committed by all parties to the conflict, to be followed by an interactive dialogue with the participation of the High Commissioner and the Expert;

Requests the Secretary-General to provide all the resources and expertise necessary to enable the Office of the High Commissioner to provide such administrative, technical and logistical support as is required to implement the provisions of the present resolution;

Calls upon the parties to the conflict to cooperate fully with the fact-finding mission in the performance of its work, and calls upon the international community to support fully the implementation of its mandate;

Decides to remain actively seized of the matter.

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