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STORY: OHCHR / SUDAN CRISIS
TRT: 05:44
SOURCE: OHCHR / UNTV CH / FAO / WFP
RESTRICTIONS: PLEASE SEE SHOTLIST FOR CREDITS
LANGUAGE: ENGLISH / NATS
DATELINE: 19 SEPTEMBER 2025 GENEVA, SWITZERLAND / FILE
FILE - GENEVA, SWITZERLAND
1. Wide shots, Palais des Nations
19 SEPTEMBER 2025 GENEVA, SWITZERLAND
2. Wide shots, briefing room
3. SOUNDBITE (English) Jeremy Laurence, Spokesperson, Office of the UN High Commissioner for Human Rights (OHCHR):
“Our report finds that the conflict-driven crisis has intensified, pointing to a rise in civilian killings, including summary executions, amid growing ethnic violence and a worsening humanitarian situation.”
4. Wide shots, briefing room
5. SOUNDBITE (English) Jeremy Laurence, Spokesperson, Office of the UN High Commissioner for Human Rights (OHCHR):
“Several major offensives and mass casualty incidents were particularly deadly. In April, an offensive by the Rapid Support Forces (RSF) on El Fasher and other areas in North Darfur resulted in at least 527 deaths, including over 270 in Zamzam and Abu Shouk camps for displaced people. In March, airstrikes by the Sudanese Armed Forces (SAF) on Tora market in North Darfur killed at least 350 civilians, including 13 members of one family.”
6. Wide shots, briefing room
7. SOUNDBITE (English) Jeremy Laurence, Spokesperson, Office of the UN High Commissioner for Human Rights (OHCHR):
“One witness who observed SAF search operations in civilian neighbourhoods in East Nile, Khartoum between March and April, said that he saw children as young as 14 and 15 years of age, accused of being RSF members, summarily killed.”
8. Wide shots, briefing room
9. SOUNDBITE (English) Jeremy Laurence, Spokesperson, Office of the UN High Commissioner for Human Rights (OHCHR):
“This violence, in all its vile forms, must end. Impunity continues to drive cycles of violations and abuses. To stop this, accountability is critical to hold those responsible to account. Sudan’s conflict is a forgotten one, and we hope that this report puts the spotlight on this disastrous situation where atrocity crimes, including war crimes, are being committed.”
10. Wide shots, briefing room
11. SOUNDBITE (English) Li Fung, Representative in Sudan, Office of the UN High Commissioner for Human Rights (OHCHR):
“We continue to receive reports of civilians being killed, abducted or subjected to sexual violence while attempting to leave El Fasher. There are no safe exit routes out of the city, and civilians are trapped in a situation of impossible choices: stay in El Fasher, and risk bombardment, starvation, and atrocities if the RSF overrun the city; or flee, and face the risk of summary execution, sexual violence, and abduction.”
12. Wide shots, briefing room
13. SOUNDBITE (English) Li Fung, Representative in Sudan, Office of the UN High Commissioner for Human Rights (OHCHR):
“They described systematic violations and abuses – often ethnically motivated – including summary executions, targeting of health workers, abductions, and widespread and targeted sexual violence against women and girls based on their ethnic identity and perceived affiliation with the Sudanese Armed Forces and Joint Forces. One survivor described her escape from Zamzam camp, saying: “I realized that RSF soldiers were everywhere on the road to Tawila, and that I was going to be raped no matter what.”
14. Wide shots, briefing room
FILE – OHCHR - 29 JULY 2025, PORT SUDAN, SUDAN
15. Various shots, OHCHR Sudan Representative Li Fung, and colleagues met with displaced women at the Abu Bakr Al Siddiq School
FILE - PLEASE CREDIT FAO ON SCREEN - 24-25 AUGUST 2025, KHARTOUM, SUDAN
16. Various shots, roads
FILE – PLEASE CREDIT WFP ON SCREEN - 06-08 APRIL 2025, KHARTOUM, SUDAN
17. Various shots, Wartorn Downtown
Rising civilian casualties, growing ethnic violence and the grim humanitarian situation in Sudan underscore how the crisis there is deepening, according to a UN Human rights (OHCHR) report published today (19 Sep).
“Our report finds that the conflict-driven crisis has intensified, pointing to a rise in civilian killings, including summary executions, amid growing ethnic violence and a worsening humanitarian situation,” UN Human Rights Spokesperson Jeremy Laurence said.
Between 1 January and 30 June, UN Human Rights documented the deaths of at least 3,384 civilians in the context of the conflict, mostly in Darfur, followed by Kordofan and Khartoum.
This represents nearly 80 percent of all civilian casualties (4,238) documented during the whole of 2024. The real toll of casualties is likely to be significantly higher.
Seventy percent of casualties (2,398) occurred during the conduct of hostilities, as the parties continued to launch attacks in densely populated areas, using artillery shelling, airstrikes and drones.
“Several major offensives and mass casualty incidents were particularly deadly. In April, an offensive by the Rapid Support Forces on El Fasher and other areas in North Darfur resulted in at least 527 deaths, including over 270 in Zamzam and Abu Shouk camps for displaced people. In March, airstrikes by the Sudanese Armed Forces on Tora market in North Darfur killed at least 350 civilians, including 13 members of one family,” he said.
The report also documents the unlawful killing of at least 990 civilians outside the conduct of hostilities, including through summary executions.
Between February and April, the number of such killings tripled, due in large part to a surge in summary executions, primarily in Khartoum, after SAF and allied fighters recaptured territory previously controlled by the RSF in late March, and campaigns of apparent reprisals against alleged “collaborators” ensued.
