AU Special Envoy calls for Sudan conflict ‘de-escalation’ amid more loss of life
November 6, 2024
Adama Dieng: ‘Sudan is witnessing atrocity crimes on an unimaginable scale’
THE African Union Special Envoy on the Prevention of Genocide and Mass Atrocities, Adama Dieng, has called on the two antagonists in the bitter armed conflict in Sudan to “de-escalate the fighting” to prevent more “tragic loss of life” in various parts of the country.
He cited particularly the ongoing violence in Al-Jazirah State where there have been reports of grave crimes including mass killings, summary execution, sexual assault, abduction, torture and looting.
Dieng said in a statement on Tuesday: “Hate speech, racial hatred and incitement to ethnically motivated violence has reached intolerable levels.”
But the continuing telecommunication blackout is making it difficult to determine the full extent of the violence, which began in April 2023 and has left over 60,000 people dead.
Dieng called on the leaders of the two main opposing groups, General Abdel Fattah al-Burhan, head of the Sudanese Armed Forces (SAF), and General Mohamed Dagalo ‘Hemedti’, who is in charge of the paramilitary Rapid Support Forces (RSF), to “de-escalate the fighting and to refrain from dangerous and inflammatory hate speech”.
“[I] urge their fighting forces to abide by their international legal obligations and respect international humanitarian law and international human rights law, and to refrain from targeting civilians,” Dieng said.
He also urged “the broader international community to work together to identify ways to protect civilians, to ensure the provision of humanitarian assistance and to intensify diplomatic efforts to end the conflict”.
Dieng is worried about the tit for tat actions of the RSF after one of its commanders, Abu Aqla Keikil, defected to the SAF on October 20.
“Since then, there have been reports of RSF rampages through numerous villages in Al-Jazirah State,” the Special Envoy said in his statement.
“This latest wave of violence has led to mass displacement from Al-Jazirah into neighbouring states.
“Many of those fleeing have been forced to walk for days with no food, forced to hide from armed militia, and leading to many cases of family separations.
“The retaliatory nature of these attacks, allegedly targeting members of the commander’s ethnic community, along with incidents of extreme violence, represents a dangerous escalation,” Dieng added.
Amid these actions, he noted that there were also reports of mass mobilisation and arming of civilians, “in another alarming escalation of violence and hatred”.
“In all of this violence, it is civilians who are most often targeted,” Dieng said.
“Sudan is witnessing atrocity crimes on an unimaginable scale, and it is the duty of the international community to do all in its power to stop the fighting.
“The very foundations of the international system are being tested by the cruel, indiscriminate violence being experienced by the people of Sudan.”
Dieng called for investigations into all alleged human rights violations, and “accountability pursued through fair and impartial processes to end the cycle of violence”.
He added: “[I] stand in solidarity with the people of Sudan and reaffirms the African Union’s unwavering commitment to peace, stability, and the protection of human rights across Sudan.”
The October atrocities that Deng is referring to come after a brief lull in fighting due to seasonal rains.
As hostilities intensified throughout October, exacting a terrible human toll, the fighting is wreaking havoc on local populations and drawing new actors into the fray, while plunging Sudan ever deeper into state collapse and humanitarian catastrophe, according to the International Crisis Group (ICG)
It notes that neither side has managed to gain a clear advantage but still they fight on, both believing they can do more to improve their position on the battlefield than by engaging in talks.
The ICG warns that in the coming weeks and months the conflict, which has already sent 930,00 refugees inti neighbouring Chad, risks spinning further out of control.
It urges key external actors to focus on making progress toward a ceasefire because neither the SAF nor the RSF will benefit from the continued pitiless combat.
Critical to this will be gaining the backing of Saudi Arabia, Egypt and the UAE, the outside powers with most influence over the belligerents, according to the ICG.
It warns that absent such an agreement, Sudan faces the prospect of decades-long state collapse, while the fragile region to which it belongs becomes further embroiled in the fighting.
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