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El-Obeid inquiry begins
Independent UN human rights investigators said atrocities committed by the Rapid Support Forces (RSF) in El Fasher in October bear “the markers of genocide,” and warned that similar patterns are emerging in El-Obeid, where the mission is launching an urgent inquiry into alleged human rights violations and abuses.
“More than 11,000 people, including over 5,500 children, have fled escalating fighting around Sudan’s strategic city of el-Obeid over the past two weeks, according to Save the Children, as the United Nations warns that up to 500,000 civilians could be at risk if the violence intensifies”
The UN Fact-Finding Mission for Sudan said the findings add evidence including detention, torture, ransom-taking and the enforced disappearance of civilians, and it warned that “El-Obeid must not become the next crime scene.”
Arab News reported that the mission’s chair, Mohamed Chande Othman, said the patterns documented in El-Fasher—“encirclement, attacks on civilian infrastructure, restrictions on humanitarian access and widespread abuses against civilians”—serve as “a stark warning.”
The UN News report said the Human Rights Council-appointed investigators warned that the RSF is deploying tactics used in El Fasher around El Obeid, where its forces have encircled the city and are attacking critical infrastructure while restricting access to essential services.
UN News also said the mission will investigate alleged violations and abuses of international human rights law and humanitarian law in El Obeid following a 6 July resolution adopted by the UN Human Rights Council.
Voices warn of escalation
Arab News said UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres called for a “redoubling of unified action” to end the conflict, and his spokesman, Stephane Dujarric, told Arab News that “there is an opportunity for member states — those who have influence on the parties — to decide to stop sending weapons.”
The UN News report quoted Mohamed Chande Othman saying, “The patterns we documented in El Fasher – including encirclement, attacks on civilian infrastructure, restrictions on humanitarian access, and widespread abuses against civilians – serve as a stark warning.”
In a separate account, The World from PRX described el-Obeid as the focal point in Sudan’s worst humanitarian crisis and said Nathaniel Raymond, of the Humanitarian Research Lab at the Yale School of Public Health, called the fight for the city an “existential battle.”
Save the Children said more than 5,500 children have been displaced over the last two weeks in and around El Obeid, and it quoted Francesco Lanino saying, “For children, displacement is far more than the loss of a home.”
Al Jazeera reported that the UN warns that up to 500,000 civilians could be at risk if violence intensifies, as fighting around el-Obeid drives a new wave of displacement that includes over 5,500 children.
Humanitarian stakes rise
UN News said the conflict has killed at least 59,000 people and displaced at least 14 million more, while 33.7 million people require humanitarian assistance and access to people in need is severely restricted.
“- Member states must seize opportunity to stop sending weapons fueling the conflict, spokesman tells Arab News - Despite repeated pleas for RSF to halt its siege, situation in El-Obeid continues to escalate as humanitarian conditions worsen NEW YORK CITY: Sudan’s Rapid Support Forces committed mass killings, systematic abductions of women and girls and mass gang rape in El-Fasher, the UN Fact-Finding Mission for Sudan said in a new report on Wednesday”
It added that El Obeid, the capital of the North Kordofan state, has faced “siege-like conditions” for 18 months, and it warned that attacks on critical infrastructure such as power stations have caused blackouts, disrupted water supplies and hampered hospitals’ ability to operate.
UN News reported that in three weeks in June the UN verified 15 drone strikes killing at least 45 civilians in El Obeid and the surrounding area, and it said the situation could deteriorate further as essential services strain under repeated attacks.
Save the Children said humanitarian access to El Obeid is becoming increasingly constrained, with several major access routes into the city disrupted or closed, and it warned that up to 500,000 civilians are at risk of being targeted in large-scale atrocities.
In The World from PRX, Noah Taylor of the Norwegian Refugee Council described conditions in El-Obeid as bleak, saying, “The fear and apprehension is palpable. People are on edge, people are terrified, and people need a break and survival from this war.”
