As the escalation in the conflict between the Rapid Support Forces (RSF) and Sudanese Armed Forces (SAF) reaches its sixth month today, (15 October 2023), resulting in the deaths of at least 5,000 civilians, more than 12,000 injured, and over 5.7 million people forcibly displaced, Tigere Chagutah, Amnesty International’s Regional Director for East and Southern Africa, said:

“Every day, civilians in Sudan are being killed and displaced as the conflict continues to rage; countless lives have been needlessly destroyed in the last six months.

“Justice and accountability are essential for the protection of civilians. The ongoing lack of accountability for past crimes is one of the root causes of this renewed violence.

“We welcome last week’s ambitious action from the Human Rights Council establishing an international accountability mechanism to collect and preserve evidence, and look forward to its operationalisation as soon as possible. We urge all parties to the conflict to cooperate with it.”

“The UN Security Council must urge all relevant actors to significantly increase humanitarian support for Sudan and demand the parties to allow the unimpeded delivery of humanitarian aid. The Security Council must also extend the existing arms embargo to all of Sudan and ensure its enforcement.”