UN high commissioner for human rights Volker Türk says three years of war in Sudan have been marked by killings, rape, and other violations, with the risk of genocidal violence spreading.

Mr Türk said this on Thursday while delivering remarks alongside Mohamed Chande Othman, chair of the Independent International Fact-Finding Mission for the Sudan established by the Council in October 2023

The brutal conflict between the Sudanese Armed Forces and the paramilitary Rapid Support Forces was the focus of debate as the Geneva-based Council holds its first session of the year.

Mr Türk presented his latest report, outlining “yet another chapter in the chronicle of cruelty”.

As fighting has intensified, violations by all parties have surged “while accountability has remained practically absent,” he said.

Documentation by his office, OHCHR, “points to over a two-and-a-half times increase in killings of civilians” in 2025, compared with the previous year.

Latest data indicates that at least 11,300 civilians were killed in 2025, nearly triple the number in 2024, while many thousands are still missing or unidentified.

Both the RSF and the Sudanese army have continued to use explosive weapons in densely populated areas, and often without warning, displaying “utter disregard for human life,” Mr Türk said.

Mr Türk said schools, hospitals, markets, religious sites, and critical infrastructure have all been attacked.

“The bodies of Sudanese women and girls have been weaponised to terrorise communities.

“In 2025, we identified over 500 victims of sexual violence, including rape, gang rape, sexual torture, and slavery, in some cases resulting in death.

“When I was in Sudan earlier this year, I listened to the harrowing testimonies of at least 10 of them,” he said.

Meanwhile, the RSF’s capture of the Zamzam camp in North Darfur in April, and its offensive in the besieged state capital, El Fasher, six months later, “unleashed carnage that claimed thousands of lives, amounting to war crimes and possible crimes against humanity”.

Mr Türk stated that although he had repeatedly warned about the risks facing the city, the massacre was not prevented.

He noted that there is already “a worrying escalation in drone strikes and blockades by both the RSF and the SAF in Kordofan and beyond, including on humanitarian aid convoys”.

These attacks have killed or injured nearly 600 civilians since the beginning of the year.

He highlighted the bloodshed at El-Saudi hospital, where more than 460 people, including patients, doctors, and wounded persons, were killed.

“Videos recorded and circulated by perpetrators show executions accompanied by ethnic slurs,” he said. “Survivors recount statements such as: ‘Is there anyone Zaghawa among you? If we find Zaghawa, we will kill them all,’ and ‘We want to eliminate anything black from Darfur.’”

(NAN)