UN Rights Chief: Sudan War Plunges Nation into 'Unimaginable Abyss'

Nearly three years of war have pushed Sudan into “an abyss of unimaginable dimensions”, UN High Commissioner for Human Rights Volker Turk said after visiting the country. Briefing journalists in Nairobi after his visit, Mr Turk described “a chronicle of cruelty unfolding before our very eyes”, and urged regional powers and arms suppliers to “act urgently to bring it to an end”. The five-day visit, his first since November 2022, took him to Port Sudan and camps for displaced people in the country’s east. Sudan has been engulfed in fighting since April 2023, when clashes erupted between Sudan's military and the Rapid Support Forces over the integration of the paramilitary group into the national army. The war has created what the UN says is the world’s largest humanitarian and displacement crisis. Tens of thousands of people have been killed, and more than 13 million displaced. The army controls much of north, east and central Sudan, while the RSF dominates the western Darfur region and parts of Kordofan, leaving the country effectively divided amid worsening food insecurity and economic collapse. Mr Turk said he met young volunteers delivering aid “in the face of massive bureaucratic hurdles, risking detention and violence”, and visited families displaced from the city of El Fasher in North Darfur. He recounted hearing testimonies of sexual violence and other atrocities, and warned that women’s bodies were being “weaponised” in systematic attacks amounting to war crimes. Mr Turk condemned repeated attacks on civilian infrastructure, including RSF drone strikes on the Merowe dam, which once supplied 70 per cent of Sudan’s electricity, and urged all parties to stop “intolerable attacks” on markets, hospitals and schools. Mr Turk expressed concern that atrocities seen in Darfur could spread to the neighbouring Kordofan region, where fighting has intensified in recent weeks amid a heightened risk of famine. He ended his remarks with a plea to Sudan’s warring sides to protect civilians, guarantee humanitarian access, and “set aside power games” in pursuit of lasting peace. Mr Turk’s visit coincided with renewed diplomatic efforts to end the war. Egypt last week hosted a fifth high‑level meeting to press for peace. The meeting was chaired by Egypt's Foreign Minister, Badr Abdelatty, and attended by envoys from the US, UAE and Saudi Arabia – the three other members of the group formed to pursue peace efforts, known as the “Quad”, as well as several other countries.