CATASTROPHE UNFOLDING IN SUDAN’S AL-OBEID – UN warns of a pattern of atrocities and urges the world to act
Another human rights catastrophe is unfolding in Sudan around the besieged city of al-Obeid, the United Nations human rights chief said on Friday (July 3) warning of a pattern of atrocities and urging the world to act.
Al-Obeid is the capital of North Kordofan state, a focus of recent fighting in a war between Sudan’s army and the paramilitary Rapid Support Forces (RSF) that began more than three years ago and has caused a vast humanitarian crisis.
U.N. High Commissioner for Human Rights Volker Turk said civilians had been subjected to siege-like conditions for 18 months, with critical shortages of clean water in al-Obeid and relentless drone strikes.
During a debate at the U.N. Human Rights Council in Geneva, Turk told delegates his office had documented patterns of summary executions, abductions, torture and sexual violence along the routes taken by displaced people across the Kordofan region.
He urged the international community not to allow a repeat of the widespread atrocities that took place in al-Fashir in North Darfur last year.
The session was called by Britain, whose envoy previously warned that up to 500,000 civilians were at risk of large-scale atrocities as the RSF reportedly massed forces around al-Obeid, one of Sudan’s largest cities, and a place where people displaced from other conflict areas have sought shelter.
