Last week, a committee formed by the UN human rights body held both sides of the war responsible for violations and recommended the establishment of an “independent and neutral force” to protect civilians in Sudan, opening the door wide to speculation about the possibility of international intervention to stop the war.
Observers believe that the recommendation, which will be discussed in the Security Council meetings during the second week of October, constitutes a turning point in the efforts aimed at stopping the war, which has caused a significant deterioration in the humanitarian situation after it covered more than 70 percent of the country’s area.
Will the 2006 scenario be repeated?
Sudan’s Attorney General Al-Fateh Mohamed Tayfour said in his speech during the 57th session of the Human Rights Council on the committee’s report: “We recommend that the Human Rights Council implement the principle of complementarity and support and back the National Committee and not impose external mechanisms.”
The Sudanese Foreign Ministry attacked the committee’s recommendations, accusing it of being a political rather than a legal body, and announced its categorical rejection of what was stated in its report.
On the other hand, the Rapid Support Forces confirmed in a statement on Thursday its readiness to cooperate with the committee and invited it to visit the areas under its control.
According to journalist Zuhair Al-Sarraj, the Sudanese Foreign Ministry is repeating the same scenario that occurred in 2006 after a series of recommendations were issued by a committee of experts formed by the United Nations Human Rights Council to investigate crimes in Darfur, to protect civilians and internally displaced persons, which the Security Council relied on in issuing Resolution 1706 in August 2006, which stipulated placing Sudan under Chapter VII of the United Nations Charter, and deploying UN forces to protect civilians in the Darfur region.
Al-Sarraj explained in a statement to Sky News Arabia that “the government of ousted President Omar al-Bashir attacked the decision at that time, and said that it would never allow UN forces to enter Darfur, but it backed down under American pressure and allowed the decision to be implemented.”
Expected step
Nizar Abdel Qader, Director of the Human Rights Institute in Geneva, believes that the Human Rights Council will adopt, at the conclusion of its work on October 11, the draft resolution that is being formulated based on the recommendation announced by the fact-finding committee.
He added in an interview with Sky News Arabia: “The next step in the coming days will focus on formulating a draft resolution that includes the committee’s recommendations and the demand to extend its mandate for a new year until October 2025, and then it will be submitted to the UN Security Council.”
Abdul Qader expects the Security Council to adopt the draft resolution and issue a decision under Chapter VII of the United Nations Charter.
He expected that the draft resolution would include the deployment of UN forces to protect civilians, expanding the jurisdiction of the International Criminal Court, and prosecuting individuals accused of igniting the war and involved in violations from all parties.
He ruled out that China or Russia would use their veto power on the resolution, explaining: “If we go back to the past twenty years, we find that China and Russia did not use their veto power on a resolution related to Sudan.”
UN Committee Report
The report of the three-member UN committee confirmed that the warring parties committed serious violations of international humanitarian law.
The committee called for expanding the arms embargo imposed on the troubled Darfur region since 2003 to cover the entire country.
The committee held both parties to the war responsible for war crimes committed against civilians, including killing, maiming and torture.
The committee’s recommendations coincided with a significant deterioration in the country’s humanitarian situation, with reports that the number of civilian deaths from the war has risen to more than 100,000 and more than 25 million of the country’s 48 million people are facing hunger.
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