The UN Human Rights Council has renewed the mandate of its independent fact-finding mission on Sudan for another year. Sudan’s government opposes the extension, while experts debate how its lack of access to the country affects the investigation.
Twenty-eight Council members backed the resolution, 10 voted against it and the rest abstained. The mission was established in October 2023 to investigate violations committed after war broke out between the Sudanese Armed Forces and the Rapid Support Forces on April 15 that year. The resolution also calls for an immediate, unconditional ceasefire and a civilian-led political transition.
Sudan’s ambassador to the UN office in Geneva, Hassan Hamed, said the Council had disregarded Khartoum’s comments. He objected to an international inquiry equating the national army with the Rapid Support Forces. Sudan is nevertheless willing to consider a mechanism that would complement a national investigation rather than replace it.
Sudanese authorities consider the extension without their consent interference in domestic affairs and say national bodies can investigate violations. Rights organisations question those bodies’ independence and point out that they cannot access areas controlled by the Rapid Support Forces. The war has also destroyed courts and disrupted the justice system.
The government’s refusal to cooperate prevents the mission from visiting battle sites, graves, hospitals and military facilities directly. It has had to rely on interviews with refugees and others who left the country. Critics say such testimony may be politically influenced or insufficiently corroborated.
Supporters of the mission say it checks claims against multiple independent sources. Investigators examine photographs and videos, documents stored on witnesses’ phones, satellite imagery of damaged settlements and mass graves, and medical records from hospitals in neighbouring countries. They say an incident is included only when accounts from independent witnesses in different locations corroborate it.