S/PV.10027 Security Council

In accordance with rule 37 of the Council’s provisional rules of procedure, I invite the representatives of the Sudan and the United Arab Emirates to participate in this meeting. In accordance with rule 39 of the Council’s provisional rules of procedure, I invite the following briefers to participate in this meeting: Ms. Martha Ama Akyaa Pobee, Assistant Secretary-General for Africa in the Departments of Political and Peacebuilding Affairs and Peace Operations; and Mr. Tom Fletcher, Under-Secretary- General for Humanitarian Affairs and Emergency Relief Coordinator. The Security Council will now begin its consideration of the item on its agenda. I give the floor to Ms. Pobee. Ms. Pobee: Since my previous briefing to the Security Council (see S/PV.9980), the conflict in the Sudan has deteriorated even further. It has caused widespread suffering and new surges of horrific violence. After more than 500 days under siege, the city of El Fasher in North Darfur has been captured by the Rapid Support Forces. Only small pockets of resistance remain. The fall of the city marks a significant shift in the security dynamics. The implications for the people of the Sudan and the region are significant. Other parts of the country have not been spared from the relentless violence. In recent weeks, fighting has intensified in the Kordofan region. This is likely the next arena of military focus for the warring parties. In North Kordofan, the city of Bara, just 40 kilometres from the state capital of El Obeid and a strategic location for both sides, was captured by the Rapid Support Forces last week. This marked another escalation on the ground. Drone strikes by both parties are also affecting new territories and new targets. These include Blue Nile, Khartoum, Sennar, South Kordofan and West Darfur, suggesting that the territorial scope of the conflict is broadening. Following the announcement of its reopening, the airport in Khartoum quickly became the target of a barrage of drone attacks. This showed that control of the city remains contested and that no part of the Sudan is beyond reach. The implications of these drone strikes are clear: mounting civilian casualties, increased humanitarian and protection needs and the continued erosion of essential infrastructure and livelihoods. Shifting military dynamics continue to shape the course of the conflict. The human cost is profound. The risk of mass atrocities, ethnically targeted violence and further violations of international humanitarian law, including sexual violence, remains alarmingly high across the country and particularly in El Fasher. The situation is simply horrifying. In the past week, the United Nations Human Rights Office has documented widespread and serious human rights violations in and around El Fasher. These include credible reports of mass killings in various locations and summary executions during house-to-house searches and as civilians have tried to flee the city. Communications have been cut off. The situation is chaotic. In this context, it is difficult to estimate the number of civilians killed. Despite commitments to protect civilians, the reality is that no one is safe in El Fasher. There is no safe passage for civilians to leave the city. There are also reports of large-scale atrocities perpetrated by the Rapid Support Forces in Bara, in North Kordofan, following the recent capture of the city. These The United Nations will continue to call for all those with influence to act now to prevent further violations and atrocities. Efforts towards accountability will also continue to be essential to end the cycles of violence. The recent renewal of the United Nations fact-finding mission’s mandate and the International Criminal Court verdict in the case of Ali Muhammad Ali Abd-Al-Rahman signal the international community’s continued commitment to justice and accountability in the Sudan. This week, the Secretary-General once again renewed his call for an immediate cessation of hostilities. It is high time to take the first step towards lasting peace for the Sudanese people. The parties must return to the negotiating table in good faith. They must pursue a sustainable resolution to the conflict. An immediate end to the fighting and sustained dialogue are needed to reverse the Sudan’s spiralling descent into de facto fragmentation. The Secretary-General has also been unequivocal in his call for external interference in the Sudan’s conflict to stop. External support is enabling the conflict. Weapons and fighters continue to flow into the Sudan, further contributing to the already desperate situation. Given the deteriorating situation on the ground, Personal Envoy Lamamra has invited both parties to separately enter into technical talks with the United Nations, focused on de-escalation and the protection of civilians. He has received encouraging indications from both parties of their willingness to commit to this process. We urge Member States with leverage over the parties to encourage them to take this critical step, which could lead to an improvement in the protection of civilians throughout the Sudan. Coordination among the Sudan’s international partners is essential to maximize our collective efforts to end this war. In this regard, Personal Envoy Lamamra has intensified his engagements with regional and international actors. The Quartet Mechanism, comprising the African Union, the Intergovernmental Authority on Development, the League of Arab States and the United Nations, is preparing an inter-Sudanese dialogue under the auspices of the African Union, which could pave the way for a Sudanese-owned and -led political process. Consultations are ongoing with key Sudanese stakeholders to refine the design, timeline and criteria for participation and map out the role of the sponsoring organizations. Personal Envoy Lamamra is also coordinating his efforts with members of the Quad initiative, comprising Egypt, the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia, the United Arab Emirates and the United States. Mediation efforts by regional and international actors are welcome and essential. To be effective and deliver solid outcomes, they must be underpinned by strong coordination and sharing complementarity and coherence with other efforts. In that regard, personal envoy is currently finalizing consultations with the African Union on the next consultative group meeting, to be jointly convened at the ministerial level by the African Union and the United Nations in Addis Ababa. This meeting will provide an opportunity for all mediation actors to exchange information, take stock of efforts and map out areas of complementarity and comparative advantage as they consider next steps. As the conflict reaches yet another critical point, we must intensify our call for an urgent and lasting solution. Reports and warnings about the unfolding catastrophe in El Fasher have been issued for months. Thus far, the Security Council has not taken decisive action to prevent the situation from deteriorating. We must all play our part in helping to bring this devastating war to an end. We must stand with the people of the Sudan, who have suffered far too much and far too long. I call on the

I thank Ms. Pobee for her briefing. I now give the floor to Mr. Fletcher. Mr. Fletcher: As members have heard, El Fasher  — already the scene of catastrophic levels of human suffering — has descended into an even darker hell, with credible reports of widespread executions after Rapid Support Forces (RSF) fighters entered the city. Can anyone here say that we did not know this was coming? We cannot hear the screams, but as we sit here today, the horror is continuing. Women and girls are being raped and people mutilated and killed with utter impunity. Let us be clear that a full 16 months after the adoption of resolution 2736 (2024), the victims will not know of the noble commitments on that page or hear our statements today about how much we care. Yesterday, almost 500 patients and their companions in the Saudi maternity hospital were reportedly killed — the latest of countless attacks on healthcare and yet another example of the depravity with which this war has been fought. Tens of thousands of terrified, starving civilians have fled or are on the move, with most moving on foot towards Tawilah, to the south-west. Tawilah is already hosting hundreds of thousands of people displaced by previous attacks. Those able to flee, the vast majority women, children and the elderly, face extortion, rape, violence on the perilous journey. Young men have been abducted or killed on the road, large numbers of people prevented from leaving the area. Now, as the Council knows, we have been pressing since July for a humanitarian pause in El Fasher to enable the safe movement of our life-saving convoys of food and medicines to those who need them. We have been blocked by the RSF, as the siege and attacks against civilians have intensified. I pay tribute to the humanitarian organizations and host communities in Tawilah, who are supporting the exhausted, traumatized, malnourished and injured, while preparing for more to arrive. And across the Sudan, and despite the massive threats, cuts, constraints to our work, to which I will turn later, the humanitarian community reached 13.5 million people between January and August across the country. We have United Nations and international non-governmental organization (NGO) staff on the ground in Darfur, working alongside local partners, providing emergency healthcare support, treating malnourished children, distributing food and battling cholera and other diseases. This week I released $20 million from the Central Emergency Response Fund to scale up support in Tawilah and across Darfur and the Kordofans. This complements allocations from our Sudan humanitarian fund focusing on NGO partners and most importantly the local responders who remain at the forefront of our efforts. The killing has not been limited to Darfur. We have seen deadly drone strikes on markets in Kabkabiyah and Saraf Umrah — areas understood to be under RSF control. Fierce fighting in North Kordofan State is driving new waves of displacement and endangering the humanitarian response, including around the State capital, El Obeid. On Tuesday, our colleagues at the International Federation of the Red Cross and Red Crescent Societies shared the appalling news that five Sudanese Red Crescent volunteers were killed while supporting food distribution in Bara in North Kordofan the previous day, and three remain missing. A drone strike in Mazroub, also in North Kordofan, on 17 October killed a large number of civilians, including a prominent tribal leader and other members of his group. In South Kordofan, Kadugli and Dilling have remained largely cut off from support, despite the repeated assurances that I have been given on humanitarian flights and humanitarian hubs. Yesterday, however, we received good news. A joint United Nations convoy reached both towns with food, health, nutrition and hygiene supplies and basic household The Sudan crisis is, at its core, a failure of protection and our responsibility to uphold international law. Sexual violence against women and girls is systematic. Deadly attacks against humanitarian workers are normalized. Atrocities are committed with an unashamed expectation of impunity, driven by complete disregard for the most fundamental obligations of international humanitarian law. The Sudan’s children face particular risks. Countless children are forcibly recruited to kill one another. Nearly one in five civilians killed in El Fasher this month were children. Around 90 per cent of children across the Sudan lack access to formal education  — 90 per cent. The war has reversed almost 40 years of progress on child immunization, putting millions of children at tremendous risk of preventable diseases. The world has failed an entire generation. This is also a crisis of hunger, with famine confirmed and severe food insecurity across all areas in which fighting has been most intense and access most challenging. Three quarters of women-headed households are food insecure. More than 24 million people — more than 40 per cent of the population — lack food to eat. Our teams in Tawilah are seeing traumatized people arriving, showing shocking signs of malnutrition. Meanwhile, the regional contagion continues to grow, with more than 4 million people having sought safety and humanitarian help in neighbouring countries. In Chad and the Central African Republic, humanitarian organizations are preparing for new large-scale movements into already overwhelmed camps and host communities. I applaud the work of the Quad and United States Special Envoy Boulos to end this conflict. We urge the Council to build on that effort with tangible results. Making peace will take patient, sustained effort. I also implore the Council and Member States to provide support in three areas. First, immediate and robust action must be taken to stop the atrocities against civilians. Stop arming this violence. Insist that stopping this conflict is more important than any narrow political or commercial interests. Those who want to leave El Fasher must be able to do so safely. Those who remain must be protected. There must be accountability for those carrying out the killing and the sexual violence and for those giving the orders. Those providing the weapons should also consider their responsibilities. Just an hour ago, I spoke to the senior representative of the Tasis coalition, who informed me that the RSF had launched an investigation into ongoing violations and that arrests had been made. He also assured me of their commitment to the protection of civilians. It remains difficult, for now, to identify this commitment amid the appalling news that continues to come out of North Darfur. Our second ask is, of course, full and unimpeded humanitarian access in El Fasher, across Darfur, Khartoum and Kordofan  — everywhere in the Sudan. We are doing all we can to scale up and deliver around El Fasher, but we need security guarantees in order to do that effectively. On access, I have to admit to members that, after almost a year in this job, including visiting the Sudan in my first week, I have found the limits of my ability and the United Nations authority to get this done, to get this access that we need. Humanitarians simply asking that we be allowed to do our jobs and save lives is not working. The Council must therefore demand that we are able to operate everywhere, including by deploying our national and international staff into areas of greatest need. We ask the Council to use its muscle to create genuine pressure to ensure this and then hold us to account in terms of delivering. We must, and we will, better arm the Council with the facts on where we are being blocked and by whom. In this context, I am furious that the World Food Programme’s Country Director and Emergency Coordinator have been expelled by the Sudanese authorities without explanation. I urge colleagues, if they have not already, to study the latest satellite imagery of El Fasher — blood on the sand. And I urge colleagues to study the world’s continued failure to stop this — blood on the hands. What is unfolding in El Fasher recalls the horrors that Darfur was subjected to 20 years ago. But what is different today is that we are seeing a very different global reaction — one of resignation. So, this is also a crisis of apathy. My simple question to the Council and to all of us working on this broken effort is this: what is it about this crisis that makes it so hard? Would previous generations of leaders and diplomats have been so impotent? If not, what are we not doing that we could be doing? Our successors will talk of our failure and the actions that we should have taken. Can we not take those actions now? Can we act with vigour, courage, honesty and collective purpose? Is this really too hard for us? If not, where is our diplomacy? Where are our values? Where is our Charter? Where is our conscience? We once pledged to save succeeding generations from the scourge of war, to reaffirm faith in fundamental human rights, in the dignity and worth of the human person, in the equal rights of men and women and of nations large and small and to establish conditions under which justice and international law can be maintained. Please, can we now place those pledges on the road to El Fasher as an apology, as a rebuke, as a challenge and as a promise?

I thank Mr. Fletcher for his briefing. I shall now give the floor to those members of the Council who wish to make statements.

I have the honour to deliver this statement on behalf of the three African members of the Security Council plus one (A3+), namely Guyana, Sierra Leone, Somalia and my own country, Algeria. We wish, at the outset, to thank the presidency for convening this urgent meeting to discuss the tragic situation in El Fasher. Let me also thank Assistant Secretary- General Martha Pobee and especially Under-Secretary-General Tom Fletcher for their briefings. We welcome the participation of the representatives of the Sudan and the United Arab Emirates in this meeting. The scenario we all feared and advocated to avoid has now become a horrifying reality. The Rapid Support Forces (RSF) have seized control of El Fasher after more than 18 months of an inhumane siege marked by starvation, suffering and despair. This deeply worrisome development is a brazen defiance of resolution 2736 (2024), which demanded, last year, the lifting of the siege on El Fasher by the RSF. It also represents a dangerous step towards the fragmentation of the Sudan. If only the suffering ended there. The RSF’s advances in the Sudan, particularly in North Darfur and Kordofan, have unleashed an avalanche of brutality against civilians worse than we could have ever imagined. The images we have seen and the reports we have received during the past 72 hours are simply appalling. We have seen a powerless mother clutching her child, waiting for two merciless RSF armed members to take her life and the life of her little one. Let us just imagine, for a second, the pain of this innocent and helpless mother. We have received reports about the killing of more than 460 patients and their companions by the RSF in a maternity hospital offered by Saudi Arabia — turning a place meant to heal and give life, not kill, into a massacre site. Allow us to underscore four points. First, we condemn in the strongest possible terms the violations and atrocities committed by the RSF, including its ethnically motivated attacks. The violations committed in El Fasher are not sudden; they are the results of months and months of a passive approach from the international community, watching the tragedy unfold in slow motion. The Security Council — our Security Council — has a responsibility to protect civilians in the Sudan, and we must deepen our efforts to this end. We therefore call for full accountability and the use of all existing mechanisms to bring those committing these crimes to justice. Secondly, could any of this have happened if there were no foreign interference in the Sudan? Those providing external support to the perpetrators of the atrocities, namely the RSF, including through the supply of arms and mercenaries, are unfortunately enabling the slaughter of the Sudanese people. We reiterate our call for the firm and public condemnation of foreign interference in the Sudan. In this regard, we welcome the communiqué adopted yesterday by the African Union Peace and Security Council, calling on various African Union (AU) organs to identify external actors supporting the parties to the conflict in the Sudan. Attribution is a critical step towards accountability. Thirdly, there is no military solution to the conflict in the Sudan. Only dialogue, only negotiation, can bring peace with the support of the African Union and the United Nations through the Personal Envoy of the Secretary-General, Mr. Ramtane Lamamra. We call for the immediate cessation of hostilities in and around El Fasher to pave the way for a negotiated settlement of the conflict. In this connection, we firmly condemn the establishment of a parallel governing authority in areas under RSF control, which risks further fragmenting the country. The Jeddah process and other regional mechanisms, particularly the AU frameworks, must be urgently revitalized. Fourthly, priority must now be given to protection measures for civilians and humanitarian workers. We call for the safe and unimpeded passage of those fleeing the city of El Fasher, for humanitarian aid and unhindered humanitarian access to reach those in desperate need and for any further loss of life to be avoided. To meet the urgent humanitarian needs, it is crucial to rapidly scale up funding for life-saving assistance and the humanitarian response plan. In conclusion, we reaffirm our commitment to the sovereignty, unity and territorial integrity of the Sudan. We also reaffirm our commitment to sustainable peace in the Sudan that is Sudanese-owned and Sudanese-led. Enough suffering in the Sudan, enough bloodshed. It is time for restraint. It is time for reason. It is time for peace.

Let me start by thanking Emergency Relief Coordinator Fletcher and Assistant Secretary-General Pobee for their briefings. I think I can say that they are very strong and compelling calls for action. Our briefers have once again painted an extremely stark picture: one of a country reeling from years of devastating conflict, of a city under siege and constant attack, of people trapped, grappling daily with malnutrition, disease and unrestrained violence, of people in desperate need of support. One would assume, or at least First, the appalling level of violence committed by the Rapid Support Forces (RSF) in El Fasher is simply staggering. As we have heard, reports of summary executions and other grave violations of international law expose a grim truth. The RSF continues to operate with total impunity, committing large-scale ethnically motivated atrocities, with little to no repercussions. Yesterday’s massacre in a hospital, in which almost 500 patients and their companions were killed, is a further shocking and damning example of this violence. Denmark strongly condemns these heinous acts, and we should collectively demand justice and accountability without delay. No one is safe in El Fasher, as Assistant Secretary-General Pobee said, but in this conflict, as in so many others, it is the most vulnerable, especially women and children, that suffer first and most. El Fasher’s 130,000 children are trapped. For some, siege is all they have known. In October, as we heard, nearly one in five civilians killed in the city were children. Furthermore, we see women and girls subjected to systematic sexual and gender-based violence, acts which are beyond comprehension. Just last night, at an event hosted by the Mission of Denmark to mark the twenty-fifth anniversary of resolution 1325 (2000), on women and peace and security, a woman civil society leader recounted how she was forced to flee Darfur 20 years ago during the genocide. Today, 20 years later, we hear the same stories of unimaginable pain, but we do not see the same international reaction, as Under-Secretary-General Fletcher also alluded to. We demand that the RSF and their allies guarantee safe passage for those seeking safety. We demand full respect for international law and compliance with resolution 2736 (2024). Secondly, the warring parties must ensure rapid, safe, unhindered and sustained humanitarian access for all civilians in their areas of control. This is not an option. It is an obligation. Since the war began, innocent humanitarian workers have been killed while attempting to save the lives of innocent civilians. Denmark pays tribute to these workers and to all those who continue to work under impossibly difficult conditions. We demand that all parties cease the dangerous manipulation of humanitarian aid and that they cooperate fully with the United Nations and its partners. In this regard, we deeply deplore that officials from World Food Programme (WFP) Sudan have been declared persona non grata and urge a reversal of that decision. We further reiterate the urgent need to retain and expand cross-border and cross-line access for humanitarian aid into the Sudan. The protection of civilians and humanitarian access must never be politicized or used as a bargaining chip, nor should they hinge on achieving a political solution. Thirdly, Denmark calls for an immediate and unconditional ceasefire. This is needed urgently throughout the Sudan. However, we need more than a ceasefire. We need genuine efforts to end the conflict. Current mediation efforts must come together and bring the parties to the table, ultimately leading to an inclusive civilian- led transition, free from coercion by armed actors. In this regard, we underline the need to preserve the Sudan’s sovereignty, unity and territorial integrity. Denmark supports efforts by the Quad, led by the United States and as laid out in their statement of 12 September, which was reaffirmed last week. However, no mediation effort will succeed unless external interference through the supply of arms and military equipment ceases immediately. We recall that all United Nations Member States have a binding obligation to comply with the Council’s arms embargo on Darfur. The full panel of experts must be appointed urgently to effectively execute its mandate.

I thank Assistant Secretary-General Pobee and Under-Secretary-General Fletcher for their powerful briefings today. The United Kingdom called for this meeting to be brought forward to today, alongside Algeria, Sierra Leone, Somalia, Guyana and Denmark, because we are gravely concerned by the intensifying violence in El Fasher and its devastating consequences for the civilian population. I will make three points. First, we call on the Rapid Support Forces (RSF) to adhere fully to their obligations under international law to protect civilians. Reports of atrocities, including targeted killings — often on the basis of ethnicity — torture and sexual and gender-based violence are horrifying. As my foreign minister said yesterday, the world will hold the RSF leadership accountable for the crimes committed by their forces. They must act now to stop this violence against innocent people. Secondly, the RSF must cease all attacks on aid workers and civilian infrastructure. As we have heard, aid workers continue to face attacks, with harrowing reports of executions at El Fasher’s Saudi Maternity Hospital and the killing of clearly identified Sudanese Red Crescent volunteers in North Kordofan. If verified, such deliberate targeting of humanitarians and humanitarian personnel could constitute a grave violation of international humanitarian law. We urge the parties to cooperate fully with the United Nations and other humanitarian actors, lift movement restrictions and provide security guarantees to allow unhindered access into and around El Fasher. Civilians must be able to leave the city safely and access life-saving aid without obstruction. We also call on the Sudanese Armed Forces (SAF) to ensure the Adré border crossing remains open to allow civilians safe passage and facilitate the delivery of humanitarian aid. Finally, there is no military solution to this conflict. Continued fighting will only deepen the crisis and prolong suffering. The RSF and SAF must halt the fighting, implement the humanitarian pause and return to the political process. We urge all Member States with influence over the parties to press for restraint and support efforts to bring them back to dialogue. The United Kingdom continues to support efforts by regional and international partners, including the Quad, to secure a ceasefire and advance a credible path towards peace. We urge all parties to engage constructively with these processes and prioritize the needs of the Sudanese people. The Council needs to send a strong and unified message that reflects our shared concern and resolve. In this regard, I welcome the agreement on the Council’s statement this morning. The suffering across the Sudan must end.

I want to thank today’s briefers. Their testimonies confirm what we had all feared and what humanitarian voices have been warning us about for almost two years. Yes, we were afraid that this was happening. What began as a siege more than 500 days ago has become a massacre. Once a fragile haven for hundreds of thousands, El I will make three points. First, Slovenia condemns in the strongest terms the reported atrocities committed by the Rapid Support Forces in El Fasher and Bara City. This is not the chaos of battle but the deliberate targeting of life itself: summary executions of civilians, people attacked solely for their ethnicity and hospitals turned into killing grounds. The assault on the Saudi Maternity Hospital, where hundreds were reportedly killed, stands as a horrific symbol of this moral collapse. This is outrageous. We are witnessing a rerun of Darfur in 2005, and we agree with the briefers that robust action is needed. The Security Council has to react decisively and firmly to these atrocities. Even in war, there are rules. International humanitarian law must be upheld by all and at all times. Civilians must be granted safe passage out of El Fasher, and humanitarian assistance must reach those whose survival now hangs by a thread. Secondly, this war is not self-sustaining. It is fuelled from beyond the Sudan’s borders by the continuous flow of weapons, resources and support. We urge — no, we demand — that all Member States of this Organization refrain from any action that prolongs the violence and uphold the Council’s arms embargo. We call on States with direct influence — regional or international — to press for an immediate end to massacres in El Fasher, for a cessation of hostilities, for safe and unhindered humanitarian access to all areas, including Tawila, and to bring the parties to dialogue. Slovenia supports all meaningful efforts towards peace. We stand behind regional and international mediation efforts, including those led by the African Union and the Personal Envoy of the Secretary-General. We place renewed hope in the Quad’s efforts. We urge the Sudanese Armed Forces and the Rapid Support Forces to choose dialogue over destruction. Let us repeat: there is no military solution to this conflict. After more than 900 days of war, further delay is indefensible. Thirdly, accountability cannot be an afterthought. There can be no peace without accountability, and no true ceasefire that ignores the crimes we are witnessing in El Fasher these days. The weaponization of starvation, the use of sexual violence as a tool of war and the targeting of individuals based on ethnicity are deliberate crimes. Those who commit, those who command and those who arm and enable such atrocities must face justice. Impunity has been the fuel of the Sudan’s agony. Justice must become its turning point. In conclusion, I wish to take a moment to pay tribute to Sudanese civil society and humanitarian responders. It is difficult to find words that capture the magnitude of their sacrifice. Where international actors have been denied access, local responders, including the Emergency Response Rooms, have become the lifeline of countless communities. Many of those delivering aid in the Sudan do so without recognition, without resources and without protection. Too many have paid the ultimate price, even in recent days. We honour their memory. Their courage must not be met with silence, nor their sacrifice with indifference. Humanitarians must never be targets.

I wish first to thank Assistant Secretary-General Martha Pobee and Under-Secretary-General Tom Fletcher for their briefings, which sounded the alarm on the sudden deterioration of the political and humanitarian crisis in the Sudan and called for a strong response from the Council. As we have just heard, the capture of El Fasher by the Rapid Support Forces (RSF) marks a new and particularly bloody stage in the conflict that has torn the Sudan apart since April 2023. It brings to an end a long siege that has been fuelling a humanitarian catastrophe for nearly one and a half years. France firmly condemns this expansion and intensification of the Rapid Support Forces offensive in El Fasher. The humanitarian crisis has reached a peak. France condemns, in the strongest terms, the strike on the Saudi hospital in El Fasher, which killed more than 460 people according to provisional figures from the World Health Organization. The perpetrators of these crimes must be held accountable, and the Security Council should consider additional sanctions. The parties to the conflict must guarantee safe, rapid and unhindered humanitarian access to all those in need, wherever they are, across borders and front lines. France regrets the decision by the Sudanese authorities calling for the departure of the country office director and the head of operations of the World Food Programme (WFP). We commend WFP’s efforts to deliver food assistance to civilians in the Sudan, where famine continues to spread and 25 million people face acute food insecurity. We pay tribute to all humanitarian personnel deployed in the Sudan. France calls for respect for and protection of humanitarian personnel and journalists in the Sudan, in accordance with international humanitarian law and resolutions 2222 (2015) and 2730 (2024). France supports the efforts to secure humanitarian truces, in particular through the work of the Quad, for the Sudan. Thirdly, the war in the Sudan has a massive regional impact. Hundreds of thousands of refugees have fled to Egypt, Chad and South Sudan as arms flows increase across borders. This crisis has become a grave regional crisis that threatens the entire region. The only way to put a lasting end to the suffering of the Sudanese people and restore peace in the region is to conclude a ceasefire accompanied by a peace process respected by all parties. France therefore calls on the parties to the conflict to engage immediately and in good faith in direct negotiations to that end. There is no military solution to this conflict. To enable this ceasefire, all foreign actors must stop providing support to the parties, whether financial, logistical or military. The arms embargo on Darfur, renewed unanimously in September, must be respected. France supports all initiatives for peace in the Sudan, in particular the efforts of the Personal Envoy of the Secretary-General, Mr. Ramtane Lamamra, and those undertaken by the Quad, the African Union and the European Union. We also reaffirm our commitment to preserving the Sudan’s sovereignty and territorial integrity. For months, France has been advocating for more decisive action by the Council. It is urgent to overcome the deadlock and take concrete measures. The Secretary- General’s proposals regarding the protection of civilians must be implemented. Humanitarian work must be completed. Measures must be taken to enforce the arms embargo and put an end to foreign interference. It is the Council’s responsibility to support international efforts so that the perpetrators of crimes are held accountable, as impunity cannot be tolerated. Lastly, the Council must do more to bring about an immediate ceasefire throughout the Sudan.

I thank Under-Secretary-General Fletcher and Assistant Secretary-General Pobee for their sobering briefings. Our worst fears have materialized. The Rapid Support Forces (RSF) have captured El Fasher, and the heightened risk of civilian massacres is now unfolding. I will make three points today. First, we condemn in the strongest possible terms the RSF’s continued assault on El Fasher, despite the Council’s demand in resolution 2736 (2024) that the RSF halt the siege of El Fasher and cease fighting immediately. Throughout the siege, beginning early last year, the RSF has targeted hospitals, camps for internally displaced persons and religious facilities with artillery and drone strikes. We condemn not only those assaults but also the reported atrocities perpetrated by the RSF against civilians, including summary executions and arbitrary detentions. Civilians, particularly women and children, are suffering not only from those attacks and atrocities but also from severe deprivation caused by the siege and blocked humanitarian aid. We urge the RSF to immediately cease its assault on El Fasher, withdraw from the city and engage without delay in negotiations towards a humanitarian ceasefire. We also call on all external actors to cease any support that enables the RSF to continue attacks in and around El Fasher. We also call upon all parties to the conflict, particularly the RSF, to facilitate immediate and unfettered humanitarian access and ensure the protection of civilians, including providing safe passage, in accordance with international law. Secondly, all violations of international humanitarian law and international human rights law must be addressed through robust accountability measures. Given the gravity of those violations and the International Criminal Court’s (ICC) jurisdiction, we emphasize the imperative need for accountability, including through international mechanisms. We see value in the recommendations of the independent international fact-finding mission for the Sudan to expand ICC jurisdiction and establish an independent, impartial judicial mechanism for the Sudan. We welcome the ICC’s first conviction, on 6 October, for crimes against humanity and war crimes committed in Darfur. It sends a clear message: there will be no impunity for perpetrators. We call upon all parties to the conflict to fully cooperate with the international community in pursuing accountability for the remaining wanted individuals and those responsible for violations of international law. Thirdly, while responding to the urgent situation in El Fasher, we must not lose sight of the broader peace process in the Sudan. In this regard, we support the commitment of regional and international actors, as expressed in the joint statement by the United States of America, the United Arab Emirates, Egypt and Saudi Arabia — known as the Quad — adopted in September. We fully recognize that a Sudanese-owned political transition is essential. However, given the Sudan’s complex political landscape, regional and international partners must remain engaged in restoring and sustaining peace. The road map announced in the Quad’s statement on the Sudan, calling for a humanitarian truce leading to a permanent ceasefire and a nine-month transition to a civilian-led Government, represents a critical step forward. The Security Council should support and build on that initiative. Let me repeat again that sustainable peace across the Sudan can be achieved only through a negotiated settlement.

Allow me to begin by expressing our gratitude to Ms. Martha Pobee and Mr. Tom Fletcher for their valuable briefings. They very clearly described, in those briefings, the tragic situation in the Sudan and its continued deterioration. We also acknowledge and appreciate the presence of the representatives of the Sudan and the United Arab Emirates at this meeting, who honour us with their participation. Panama strongly condemns the systematic and deliberate massacre of the civilian population, the attacks on patients in hospitals, markets and refugee camps, and the persistent sexual and gender-based violence. Entire families have been killed, communities razed, and thousands of people live in fear, famine and despair. This is not a war between armies; it is a war against civilians. Nothing can justify such barbarity. Those acts constitute atrocious crimes that cannot and must not go unpunished. Panama notes with alarm the systematic patterns of ethnically motivated killings and the sexual and gender-based violence being documented in the conflict as instruments to inflict terror upon communities. Those attacks demonstrate an absolute contempt for the most basic norms of international humanitarian law and civilization. Those atrocities are part of a conscious strategy to destroy and uproot entire communities. Panama joins the international community’s urgent call for an immediate and unconditional total ceasefire, while urging all external actors to stop foreign interference and any support that serves to arm or sustain the perpetrators’ capacity for violence and their atrocities. We demand the immediate opening of humanitarian corridors to allow for the safe, immediate and dignified evacuation of those seeking to escape the horror, as well as unrestricted access for humanitarian aid. There can be no peace without justice. That is why Panama demands that effective mechanisms of justice and accountability be established against all the perpetrators and those who allow acts of genocide and war crimes to take place. Panama recognizes and expresses its gratitude for the work of the independent international fact-finding mission for the Sudan. The most recent report of the mission clearly describes what we are witnessing: a war of atrocities directed mainly against the civilian population. The work of the mission, which deserves particular appreciation, is essential in enabling the truth to prevail and the victims to be heard. Panama also would like to highlight the recent visit of the Security Council to Addis Ababa, where a constructive dialogue was held with the Peace and Security Council of the African Union on the situation in the Sudan. This spirit of regional and international cooperation is essential to respond coherently and urgently to the magnitude of this crisis. We call on the parties to the conflict to immediately stop the massacre, fulfil their responsibility to protect civilians and create safe conditions in the Sudan. Panama stands in solidarity with the Sudanese people and expresses its support for the defence of life, human dignity and the principles of international humanitarian law.

I thank you, Madam President, for convening this urgent meeting. We are also thankful to Assistant Secretary-General Pobee and Under- Secretary-General Fletcher for their sobering and deeply distressing briefings. The situation in Darfur has continued to deteriorate sharply, despite resolution 2736 (2024), which demanded that the Rapid Support Forces (RSF) lift the siege of El Fasher, and despite repeated Council press statements calling for an end to the Therefore, when Assistant Secretary-General Pobee underlines that decisive action was not taken, and when Under-Secretary-General Fletcher keeps telling us that we always saw it coming, there is little to justify why we could not do enough to prevent this. It is time for the Council to send an unambiguous message that it will not remain a passive spectator while innocent civilians are massacred, hospitals are bombed, and aid workers are targeted with impunity. Pakistan condemns in the strongest possible terms the atrocities perpetrated by the RSF and its violent takeover of El Fasher. The deliberate targeting of civilians, medical facilities and humanitarian personnel constitutes a flagrant violation of international humanitarian and human rights law. We are appalled by the killing of hundreds of patients and health workers at the Saudi Maternity Hospital and by the continuing siege that has trapped thousands of civilians in inhumane conditions. Those heinous acts must stop immediately, and the perpetrators and their sponsors must be held accountable. For more than two decades, we have witnessed a tragedy unfolding in the Sudan, which has been complicated by external interference and geopolitics. And unfortunately, we have not learned from history and past mistakes. Those who reject the parallel governance by the RSF but at the same time try to equate the militia with the Sudanese authorities must review their positions. The perceived lack of full support for the Sudanese Government by the Council only emboldens the RSF and prolongs the conflict. Undermining the Sudan’s legitimate State institutions risks creating a vacuum which armed groups like RSF exploit to commit further atrocities and destabilize the entire region. It is therefore imperative that the international community engage constructively with the Sudanese authorities to sustain governance, facilitate humanitarian access, advance the political process and preserve national unity. We recognize the steps taken by the Sudanese Government in pursuance of its transitional road map, including the appointment of a new Prime Minister and a technocratic cabinet tasked with alleviating humanitarian suffering and advancing an inclusive political transition. Those are positive developments that deserve the Council’s acknowledgment and support. Pakistan reaffirms its unwavering commitment to the sovereignty, unity and territorial integrity of the Sudan. We condemn unequivocally the establishment of any so-called parallel governance structures which undermine Sudan’s State institutions and risk fragmenting the country. Such illegitimate structures must find no recognition from the international community. As others have said, there is no military solution to the conflict. The guns must fall silent. External interference must stop. We call for an immediate cessation of hostilities and for renewed engagement in a genuinely Sudanese-led and Sudanese-owned political process, consistent with the spirit of the Jeddah Declaration of Commitment to Protect the Civilians of Sudan. Pakistan will support all good-faith, coordinated and synergized efforts towards this end. The people of the Sudan have endured unimaginable suffering for far too long. They deserve peace, dignity and hope. The Council must act with unity and resolve to bring about a ceasefire to protect civilians and to give the people of the Sudan the chance to rebuild their country in peace.

I thank Assistant Secretary-General Pobee and Under-Secretary-General Fletcher for their briefings, which were deeply Recently in the Sudan, the Rapid Support Forces (RSF) attacked and seized El Fasher, resulting in the rapid deterioration of the situation on the ground. The escalating conflict has reportedly left more than 100,000 civilians trapped in the city and led to massive displacement and frequent violent attacks. China expresses its grave concern over the situation. I would like to make three points. First, achieving a ceasefire to halt the fighting and violence is the overriding urgent priority. Resolution 2736 (2024) explicitly demands that the RSF end its siege of El Fasher and calls on all parties to the conflict to immediately cease hostilities and ensure the protection of civilians. The collective will of the Council must not be disregarded and humanitarian disasters must not be allowed to recur. China strongly condemns the atrocities committed by the RSF in attacking civilians and destroying civilian facilities such as hospitals. We demand that the RSF immediately cease all its violent acts and refrain from crossing the red line of international humanitarian law. We call on all parties to the conflict to prioritize the interests of the people and the country, heed the resounding appeals of the international community, strictly comply with relevant Council resolutions and immediately and unconditionally cease all hostilities. External interference must stop, and all possible measures must be taken to protect civilians. Secondly, scaling up humanitarian assistance is an important step for salvaging this dangerous situation. China urges the RSF to immediately lift restrictions on humanitarian access to El Fasher, ensure the safe delivery and the timely and orderly distribution of aid supplies, guarantee safe passage for civilians wishing to evacuate voluntarily and ensure the safety and security of humanitarian workers. The Sudanese Government should work closely with United Nations humanitarian agencies and strengthen coordination with all relevant parties on the ground to ensure the supply of items essential to survival, including food, drinking water and medicine, and make every effort to alleviate the humanitarian crisis. Currently, both the humanitarian response plan for the Sudan and the regional refugee response plan are underfunded. The international community, especially traditional donors and new partners, should increase rather than reduce their contributions, and pledged contributions should be disbursed as soon as possible. Thirdly, promoting dialogue and negotiation is the only way to resolve the conflict. China welcomes the emergency meeting convened by the African Union (AU) Peace and Security Council and the communiqué issued. We support the Personal Envoy of the Secretary-General, Mr. Ramtane Lamamra, in strengthening coordination with regional organizations, such as the AU, to make concerted good offices and mediation efforts, so as to find African solutions to African issues. We urge all parties to the conflict to return to the right track of political dialogue at an early date. China firmly supports the Sudan’s sovereignty, unity and territorial integrity. We support the Sudanese Government’s efforts to safeguard national security and advance the political process, and we support the Sudan in finding a solution that is well-suited to its national realities and the needs of its people. We oppose the creation of any parallel governance structures or other actions that could lead to division. We oppose any interference, application of pressure or provocation of problems that could exacerbate the conflict, and we are against the imposition of any external solutions. At this critical juncture in the Sudanese situation, China welcomes the Council’s issuance of a press statement on the situation in El Fasher (SC/16204), which sends a timely and clear message. The facts have proven that ceasefires do not materialize automatically and that peace does not arrive on its own. The international community

I would like to thank Assistant Secretary-General Martha Pobee and Under-Secretary-General Tom Fletcher for their briefings today. The picture that they have painted cannot and should not leave us indifferent. Greece expresses its grave concern about the persistent military escalation in El Fasher, which for more than 18 months has been the epicentre of fighting and unimaginable human suffering. The siege by the Rapid Support Forces (RSF) has trapped hundreds of thousands of civilians, leaving them at the mercy of their attackers without any possibility of protection, let alone humanitarian aid. We strongly condemn the RSF attack on El Fasher and call for an immediate halt to all hostilities and for de-escalation in and around El Fasher. Reports of indiscriminate shelling, ethnically motivated executions, the massacre in the Saudi Maternity Hospital and gender-based violence by all sides are to be strongly condemned. These acts, documented by the United Nations and the African Union (AU), constitute serious violations of international humanitarian and human rights law, some of them amounting to war crimes. Greece fully aligns itself with the Secretary-General’s recent statement regarding the situation in El Fasher and shares his concern about the appalling humanitarian toll. We echo his call for an immediate end to the siege, a cessation of hostilities and unimpeded humanitarian access to all civilians in need. We call for safe passage for all those trying to leave El Fasher, including vulnerable groups, such as women, children and the elderly. Allow me to highlight two points. First, the humanitarian situation in El Fasher has turned into the gravest crisis in the Sudan. More than 10 million people are now displaced in the Sudan, while famine and disease threaten those trapped in besieged areas, such as El Fasher. Greece reiterates the Secretary-General’s call for the safe and rapid delivery of aid and for full respect of international humanitarian law. We strongly support the creation of safe humanitarian corridors under United Nations and AU coordination, in line with resolution 2719 (2023). Let me stress that children are among the most severely affected, as the Under- Secretary-General just described. We demand that all parties refrain from, prevent and put an end to any violations against women and children, including their recruitment and use, killing and maiming, rape and other forms of sexual violence. Greece urges all parties to place the protection of civilians at the heart of peace efforts and calls for perpetrators of violations against civilians to be held accountable. Secondly, accountability for all those responsible for war crimes and crimes against humanity is essential. The independent international fact-finding mission for the Sudan has confirmed a consistent pattern of atrocities by all parties — summary executions, sexual violence, forced displacement and deliberate starvation. Impunity remains a driving force behind the Sudan’s recurring violence. While domestic judicial initiatives are welcome, they remain insufficient and selective. Greece therefore supports complementary international mechanisms that are capable of ensuring impartial investigations and prosecutions. On the political track, the crisis in the Sudan, apart from being a horrifying tragedy, threatens regional stability, including in the Sahel, the Horn of Africa and the Red Sea region, with the repercussions that we all imagine. We call on all third actors to halt the transfer of weapons and fighters into the Sudan and to support the coordinated diplomatic framework of the United Nations, the AU, the Greece reaffirms its strong support for the sovereignty, unity and territorial integrity of the Sudan. We reiterate that there is no military solution to this conflict. We urge both the Sudanese Armed Forces and the Rapid Support Forces to engage without preconditions with the Personal Envoy of the Secretary-General, Mr. Lamamra, and to take immediate, concrete steps towards a negotiated and lasting ceasefire leading to a credible political process and sustainable peace. Finally, the Council should not refrain from taking further action, as necessary, and should rise to the demands of this crisis.

I thank Assistant Secretary-General Martha Pobee and Under-Secretary-General Tom Fletcher for their sobering briefings today. The United States condemns in the strongest terms the horrific violence occurring in El Fasher. The situation is both tragic and appalling. We have said this before, and we will say it again: the Rapid Support Forces (RSF) and allied militias have committed genocide. The RSF has and continues to systematically kill men and boys  — even infants  — and deliberately target women and children for rape and other forms of brutal sexual violence. These crimes are ethnically motivated. RSF militias are targeting civilians as they flee, killing innocent people escaping conflict and preventing those who remain from gaining access to life-saving supplies. The United States condemns these abhorrent atrocities in no uncertain terms. Those responsible should be held accountable, including through sanctions, as noted by the Panel of Experts on the Sudan in its most recent report (see S/2025/239). The sanctions regime pursuant to resolution 1591 (2005) was established to help to bring peace to Darfur, and it is high time that the Council update the Sudan sanctions list. The Council must use all tools at its disposal to facilitate peace. The United States calls on the Sudan’s warring parties to cease hostilities, allow unhindered humanitarian access to all parts of the country and protect civilians. It is not enough for the RSF to make humanitarian commitments. They must implement them. We also condemn the Sudanese Armed Forces’ recent expulsion of World Food Programme staff. Ending wars is a priority for President Trump, and the United States remains committed to working with its partners and other stakeholders to resolve the crisis. Together, we are focused on securing an immediate humanitarian truce, halting external support and advancing a transition to civilian governance. A civilian-led post-conflict governance process is necessary to counter violent extremists, prevent the spread of conflict and foster meaningful negotiations among the parties in the Sudan. The Sudan’s future governance is for the Sudanese people to decide through a neutral, inclusive and transparent transition process.

I shall now make a statement in my capacity as the representative of the Russian Federation. We thank Under-Secretary-General Tom Fletcher and Assistant Secretary- General Martha Pobee for their briefings. We welcome the participation in the meeting of the Permanent Representatives of the Sudan and the United Arab Emirates. Unfortunately, the situation in the Sudan remains alarming. The latest surge in tensions was triggered by the fact that the rebel Rapid Support Forces (RSF) and affiliated groups seized control of El Fasher, the capital of North Darfur. We are deeply concerned about reports of widespread human rights violations in the area. The use of violence against civilians, especially on ethnic grounds, is unacceptable and runs counter to universally recognized norms of international humanitarian law. The situation around El Fasher must serve as a clear signal to all of us that the only way forward for the Sudan is through reliable stabilization and the establishment of order throughout the country under unified and centralized institutions of governance. Any alternative path would pave the way for spiralling violence in the country and a return to the era of inter-ethnic conflict in Darfur, with the potential for spillover into neighbouring Chad. The situation in El Fasher has exposed a truly dire humanitarian situation in the western regions of the country. The ability to deliver aid to areas held by the rebels is limited or downright impossible, and the delivery of aid is fraught with life-threatening risks for humanitarian workers. In this regard, we have noted assessments by United Nations humanitarian agencies operating in the Sudan indicating that it is the RSF that is obstructing the unhindered delivery of assistance to those in need. At the same time, these agencies have confirmed that all necessary permits and approvals have been obtained by them from Port Sudan in a timely manner. We consider it important to maintain close coordination with the Sudanese Government when it comes to distributing aid, identifying the most urgent needs and resolving administrative and logistical issues. As we can see, the Sudanese authorities are fully open to this cooperation, but they do expect that the United Nations and its partners will carry out their part of the work in good faith and without politicization. In view of the escalation around El Fasher, there are growing calls for concrete actions on the ground to compel the parties to make peace. We believe that such measures will only be effective if they receive support from the Sudanese people themselves and the Government that represents their interests, which is led by Prime Minister Kamil Idris. Any attempts to put the warring parties on par with one another or to suggest that neither of them has legitimate authority can only be seen as encouraging separatism and internal discord. We urge all Council members to focus on constructive engagement and tangible support for the Sudanese people, rather than prompting division. It is precisely in this spirit that the Security Council should act to bring peace to the Sudan. Russia consistently advocates a peaceful resolution of the protracted conflict in the Sudan. The priority here must be the preservation of the country’s unity, sovereignty and territorial integrity. Alongside other responsible members of the international community, we too reject the creation of any parallel structures of power. Achieving the desired normalization is only possible through the prompt cessation of hostilities and the launch of a comprehensive Sudanese-led political process that would reflect their national interests alone. Diplomatic efforts to overcome the crisis must be genuinely aimed at facilitating national reconciliation, taking into account the positions and approaches of the Sudanese Government and all patriotic sociopolitical forces that enjoy broad popular support. I now resume my functions as President of the Council. I give the floor to the representative of the Sudan.

At the outset, I would like to congratulate you, Mr. President, on your country’s assumption of the presidency of Allow me to begin by paying tribute to the innocent souls who were brutally killed by the Rapid Support Forces militia in El Fasher over the past two days and praying for the recovery of the injured and the return of those forcibly detained by that militia, which Council members described as barbaric and beyond the pale in modern civilization. I begin my statement by thanking Assistant Secretary-General Martha Pobee of the Department of Political and Peacebuilding Affairs and Mr. Tom Fletcher, Under- Secretary-General for Humanitarian Affairs. I also thank all Council members who condemned this unprecedented savagery and brutality, in particular Algeria for the statement on behalf of the three African members of the Security Council plus. I address Council members to say — and have been telling the Council since 2023 — that the rebel Rapid Support Forces militia is working to transform Darfur and El Fasher into a new Tora Bora. For several days now, the city of El Fasher, the capital of North Darfur, has become a new symbol of the humanitarian tragedy created by the organized criminality of the terrorist Rapid Support Forces militia and those who sponsor, support, finance and supply it with weapons, money, foreign mercenaries and political, diplomatic and media backing. We have explained all that to the Council in sufficient detail and with supporting documentation. What is happening in El Fasher is not an isolated incident, but rather a continuation of a systematic pattern of killing and ethnic cleansing that this militia has been perpetrating since its rebellion in April 2023. The scenes of genocide witnessed by the world in West Darfur against the Masalit tribe are recurring today in El Fasher, where thousands of unarmed civilians are being slaughtered, neighbourhoods and markets are being burned, medical facilities and hospitals are being looted and the people inside them are being killed. According to a statement by the World Health Organization, approximately 450 patients and staff were killed at the Saudi hospital in El Fasher. It was the last functioning health facility in the city, after the criminal militia’s deliberate destruction of health facilities there during its siege and continuous bombardment of the city. The militia is also killing civilians and humanitarian personnel, as it did in Bara, and is perpetrating sexual violence against women and girls in broad daylight. What the militia is doing is no longer just a violation of human rights, but a new crime against humanity and a systematic genocide by all legal standards and definitions. To grasp the magnitude of the catastrophe, over the past few days since the militia entered El Fasher, the number of victims in the city alone has exceeded those killed in the terrorist attacks of 21 February 2003 — a figure that would shock any conscience. There are virtually no civilians left in El Fasher; they have either been killed by the rocket, drone and chemical weapon attacks carried out by the rebel militia or have died while fleeing in search of safety. Since 2023, the Government of the Sudan has repeatedly alerted the Council and the international community to the diabolical and criminal nature of this terrorist system — a tribal militia led by a single family, akin to a mafia gang. That system is the natural extension of the notorious Janjaweed militia, which committed acts that some members of the Council once classified and the Council has today classified as among the most heinous of atrocities, amounting to genocide. That militia has no political, national or constitutional legitimacy; rather, it is founded on an ideology of racial supremacy and racism against African tribes in Darfur and across the Sudan. Its modus operandi is looting and the systematic violation of international humanitarian law and human rights law. That criminal militia draws its power from the looted gold of Darfur, smuggled to the markets of its regional sponsor and from that regional sponsor’s external support. The Government of the Sudan has provided the Council and the international community with documented evidence that the militia has enlisted foreign mercenaries from neighbouring States and even from Latin America, and recruited, financed and smuggled across borders under the auspices and supervision of a known regional sponsor. Yet the Council has not taken any practical measures to hold that sponsor or other implicated parties to account, to prosecute the financiers and supporters of those crimes and that terrorism, or to establish an independent fact-finding commission to investigate them. The Rapid Support Forces continue their flagrant defiance of resolution 2736 (2024) by using starvation as a weapon to deny humanitarian assistance to El Fasher. Since May 2023, they have imposed a suffocating siege, depriving the population of food and medicine, in preparation for a horrific mass slaughter that took place before the eyes of the international community. Those acts were even openly announced by their leaders through video broadcasts. The militia besieged the city for more than a year and a half, cutting off supply routes before launching attacks on its residents in massacres that recall some of the most brutal genocidal scenes the world has ever witnessed. Faced with these facts, the Sudanese people and all who uphold the human conscience ask: Where is the Security Council? Where are its moral and legal responsibilities under the Charter of the United Nations? Is it not the Council’s duty to act against those who commit genocide and crimes against humanity, as it has done in other situations elsewhere in the world? From the standpoint of our moral and legal responsibilities to our citizens, and despite very limited resources and the scale of systematic, widespread destruction, the Government of the Sudan has continued to facilitate the delivery of humanitarian assistance to all citizens affected by the war imposed on the Sudan. It has been taking operational measures to accelerate the delivery of humanitarian aid to those in need, including increasing the number of border crossings to 13, extending the opening of the Adré border crossing until the end of this year and increasing the number of airports to seven. The Government has enabled international organizations to use all internal routes between states for humanitarian access and has exempted all humanitarian consignments from international organizations and donor countries from customs duties, taxes and other charges, estimated at more than $2 billion. The Government has also taken more than 80,500 administrative and technical measures to facilitate humanitarian access at the federal and state levels, including entry visas, customs and tax exemptions, movement permits for humanitarian trucks, renewal and facilitation of the work of humanitarian organizations. Mr. Tom Fletcher, Under-Secretary-General for Humanitarian Affairs, met with the President of the Republic and all Sudanese authorities, as well as the Prime Minister of the Sudan, Mr. Kamil El-Tayeb Idris Abdelhafiz, when the Prime Minister came last month to attend the General Assembly events. We raised with Mr. Fletcher all our concerns about humanitarian work, and the Prime Minister personally assured us that he would facilitate all of his tasks. We would be most disappointed to hear that there are obstructions by the Government of the Sudan. The Government of the Sudan reaffirms its unwavering commitment to international humanitarian law and to the protection of civilians. It continues to work with the United Nations and its agencies and the Special Envoy of the Secretary- General, Mr. Lamamra, to facilitate the delivery of assistance to all those in need, including in conflict areas. There are no longer any civilians in the city of El Fasher; they have either been killed by rocket and drone attacks and by chemical weapons recently used by the rebel militia or have died while fleeing the city in search of safety. The Government of the Sudan remains committed to continuing its efforts to achieve a comprehensive and sustainable peace through an entirely Sudanese-owned process, rejecting tutelage and external interference and relying on dialogue among the country’s own people within a framework that respects national sovereignty and territorial integrity. It is deeply regrettable that the RSF committed these atrocities while an official Sudanese delegation, led by the Minister of Foreign Affairs, was holding consultations in Washington, D.C. with the United States Administration on ways to end the war and achieve peace. The Government of the Sudan has cooperated with the Secretary-General on all initiatives and resolutions, and it is the RSF that has withdrawn from the process. This tragic irony exposes the true nature of that group and its supporters, who do not believe in peace, the political process or the appeals of the Secretary-General, but instead thrive on war, chaos and terror. Accordingly, the Government of the Sudan calls on the Council to unequivocally condemn, in clear and firm language, the massacres committed by the RSF, its foreign mercenaries and its regional sponsors in El Fasher and across the Sudan and to demand that the militia withdraw from the city and respect resolution 2736 (2024). We also call on the Council to designate the RSF as a terrorist organization in accordance with international counter-terrorism standards, and to criminalize any dealings with it by States or other entities, including the provision of weapons, mercenaries, drones and advanced weaponry such as radar systems or the facilitation of their transit across borders — for such weapons do not fall from the sky. We call on the Council to impose targeted sanctions on States and individuals that finance, arm or shelter the militia, irrespective of the size of their contribution or of their proximity to the international community. We call on the Council to launch an investigation into the genocide in El Fasher in order to ensure accountability, as the militia continues to issue daily threats of mass killing. The Sudanese Armed Forces have discovered weapons originating from Western countries and advanced radars in Nyala. These weapons will be presented at a forthcoming press conference. We stress the need to ensure the full implementation of resolutions 2736 (2024) and 1591 (2005), as witnesses in Darfur have testified that certain neighbouring States have taken part in the killing of citizens in support of the militia. We also condemn the foreign air operations that, throughout the past week, have supported militia attacks and targeted the positions of the Sixth Infantry Division using nerve gas prohibited under international law. Such weapons have been used in El Fasher and its surrounding areas, prompting the withdrawal of the Sixth Infantry Division to protect the remaining civilians. In conclusion, I wish to be clear: there can be no negotiation with this terrorist militia unless it lays down its arms and ceases its aggression against the Sudanese people. Any such process must involve the State that sponsors, empowers and supports the militia. There can be no talk of peace amid genocide and mass killing. The Sudanese people will not accept dialogue with those who have committed the most heinous crimes of war — crimes against humanity and genocide — nor will the people accept their inclusion in governance, as some Western countries are proposing. The Sudan will resist the scheme of international dismantling and its regional and global sponsors, relying instead on the resolve of our armed forces to repel aggression in self-defence in accordance with the Charter  — just as the Mahdist movement did in the nineteenth century when it defeated colonialism. The continued silence of the international community in the face of the crimes being committed in the Sudan — crimes that have taken the form of a new and ugly type of colonialism by the militia and its regional backers — cannot be interpreted as neutrality, but rather as complicity through silence and implicit encouragement. The Sudanese people will not forget those who have caused them such suffering and displacement, nor those who have turned a blind eye to their plight. The Sudan does not seek pity — for God alone is the most merciful — but calls for the restoration of the moral standards upon which this Organization was founded. The Security Council must stand courageously and consistently with the principles of the Charter of the United Nations, which prohibit external aggression and protect peoples from genocide.

I now give the floor to the representative of the United Arab Emirates.

I wish to thank you, Mr. President, for convening this meeting to bring attention to a crisis of unimaginable scale. I also thank Under-Secretary-General Fletcher and Assistant Secretary-General Pobee for their briefings on the horrific situation unfolding in the Sudan. For more than 900 days, the civil war in the Sudan has engulfed the nation, and the suffering of the Sudanese people has deepened by the day. Meanwhile, the situation in El Fasher has grown even more dire. The United Arab Emirates condemns the heinous attacks against civilians in El Fasher. These attacks constitute a blatant violation of international humanitarian law. We call on the Rapid Support Forces (RSF) to ensure the protection of civilians and humanitarian personnel. We also call on the international community to ensure that all perpetrators of atrocities are held to account. With millions of Sudanese caught in the crosshairs of war, we join the international community in demanding that both warring parties — the Sudanese Armed Forces and the RSF  — exercise full restraint and cease all targeting of civilians. The warring parties must fully comply with international humanitarian law, including by providing humanitarian corridors and safe passage and by allowing and facilitating At a time when famine is spreading, it is more important than ever that assistance reaches people throughout the Sudan and that the United Nations be allowed to do its job. The United Arab Emirates commends the leadership of the United States for convening the Quad for Sudan, which provides a robust platform to end the conflict in the Sudan. The United Arab Emirates reiterates the Quad’s call for a humanitarian truce in the Sudan, to lead immediately to a permanent ceasefire. We must not allow the humanitarian situation to worsen, nor can we allow these atrocities to be overlooked. The perpetrators of these crimes must be held accountable. Recent developments have once again revealed an undeniable truth: the path to peace cannot be forged on the battlefield. The unfolding horrors on the ground reaffirm that the only viable solution lies in a genuine transitional process — one that leads to an independent civilian-led Government that is not controlled by either of the warring parties; one that leads to a Sudan that is safe for all its people, free from extremism, terrorism and racially or ethnically motivated violence. We call on the Council to apply pressure on the warring parties and to use all its tools to compel them to return to the negotiating table with a genuine commitment to seek peace. The United Arab Emirates has stood in solidarity with the Sudanese people for decades, and we will continue to do so. Today, we are announcing an additional $100 million dollars to support life-saving humanitarian operations in El Fasher. The United Arab Emirates will carry on supporting regional and international efforts to achieve a ceasefire and to finally deliver the peace, stability and security that the Sudanese people are calling for.

The representative of the Sudan has asked for the floor to make a further statement. I wish to inform all those who may wish to take the floor to make further statements that I will give them the floor only one time. I now give the floor to the representative of the Sudan.

There is no civil war in the Sudan. Rather, it is a war and aggression waged by the United Arab Emirates through its regional proxy, the Rapid Support Forces (RSF), and it cannot be described as a two- party war. How can a representative of a country whose hands are stained with the blood of innocent people in the Sudan address the Council as though it were a nation of peace? Simply hearing that representative speak about the situation in the Sudan as if the Sudan were under the tutelage or authority of the Government of Abu Dhabi is an insult to the Council and a mockery of the tears of the children, orphans and women whose blood has been shed, as well as of the tears of the widows and all those who are being killed and displaced every day by weapons, money and planning provided by the Emirates. It has become known to all that the Abu Dhabi regime has played the most dangerous role in the aggression against the Sudan by inciting, arming and financing the criminal militia through media and diplomatic disinformation campaigns aimed at whitewashing its image and that of the militia. The RSF is nothing more than a local proxy completely under the effective control of the Abu Dhabi regime. In the past three days alone, The Wall Street Journal and The Guardian have published lengthy reports detailing the United Arab Emirates’ aggression against the Sudan through its sponsorship and arming of militias. These reports have revealed the extent of the Emirates’ involvement in fuelling the war and financing the crimes There has been close coordination between military experts in eastern Libya and a command centre using satellite systems in Abu Dhabi. According to The Guardian, the weapons supplied included targeting systems manufactured in a Council member State and engines for armoured vehicles specially produced for the Emirates, previously used in Libya and Yemen. A Libyan television channel also confirmed that more than 10 military aircraft were observed on 25 and 26 October flying between the United Arab Emirates and eastern Libya shortly before the most recent militia attack on El Fasher. These aircraft were carrying weapons shipments to provide logistical and military support to the criminal militia, coinciding with the escalation of attacks in El Fasher. This further confirms the nature and timing of those flights. We informed the Council on 5 September of the details of these flights. The Humanitarian Research Lab at the Yale School of Public Health, through its conflict analysis team, using satellite imagery, also confirmed that mass killings had continued in El Fasher between 26 and 28 October, in particular at the Saudi hospital. Youth committees in El Fasher confirmed that, on 28 October, all patients in the first-class wards were executed, together with medical staff. The university in El Fasher and the local office of the Ministry of Interior were brutally attacked by the RSF militia. Doctors and health workers were kidnapped, and the situation of patients and the humanitarian outlook have become catastrophic. The actions of the United Arab Emirates cannot be considered anything other than a blatant violation of the Charter of the United Nations, the Charter of the League of Arab States and the resolutions of the Security Council, in particular those prohibiting support for armed terrorist or unlawful groups. How can a State speak of peace in the Chamber while filling the Sudan’s skies with aircraft and ammunition, which it sends to those who kill women and children, rape girls and loot cities, promising them that they would govern the Sudan, and seeking to divide an entire region so as to place the region under its domination and control, declaring a separate State to plunder its wealth? The Sudanese Armed Forces, which some ridicule, fought alongside the Allies and the United Kingdom in battles in Eritrea, Ethiopia and North Africa, including Alamayn, during the Second World War and the First World War. Can such a historic and legitimate institution be replaced by barbaric militias, as Council members themselves described this evening? The Sudan, which stood by the Emirati people since the founding of their State, will not forget that the United Arab Emirates was among the first to betray that goodwill, conspire against the unity and stability of the Sudan and turn away from the principles of brotherhood and reciprocity in kindness. The United Arab Emirates will remain in our nation’s memory as a symbol of political treachery and moral depravity, a source of shame that no cosmetics or public relations campaign can erase. In conclusion, the representative of the United Arab Emirates should not be seated under this dome but rather among the ranks of the criminal militia funded by his country  — the militia committing atrocities against civilians. Despite all their wounds, the Sudanese people will remain steadfast, upholding our sovereignty and unity and rejecting every form of meddling from the United Arab Emirates and its proxies, which seek to impose neocolonial agendas in a new guise. No amount of money, weapons or political complicity will ever break the will of our great people — a people who, throughout history, has faced colonialism, oppression and tyranny and triumphed over them all. In the face of this Emirati aggression, the circle will turn and there is no way forward but to chant the slogan: glory to the rifle.

It is an absurdity that one of the warring parties can carry on politicizing this forum by disseminating false and baseless allegations. This is a party that is directly responsible for the devastation of its own country, a party that has a record of obstructing peace efforts and refusing to agree to an immediate ceasefire, a party that has systematically expelled United Nations officials in a pattern of intimidation and interference with the Organization’s life-saving work. This week it declared two senior World Food Programme officials personae non gratae as famine continues to spread. Last year, the Sudanese Armed Forces (SAF) expelled the Deputy Humanitarian Coordinator, and the year before that, they expelled the head of the United Nations mission in the Sudan. The SAF has walked away from a humanitarian truce despite intensive efforts by the United States and the Quad for Sudan and the unequivocal support from the United Arab Emirates. The current escalation could have been avoided. The time for polite fictions and diplomatic niceties has passed. In October 2021, the Sudanese Armed Forces seized power in a coup with their partner at the time, the Rapid Support Forces (RSF). The SAF dismantled a fragile democratic transition and betrayed the hopes of an entire nation. Since then, the SAF has sabotaged every credible peace effort. Its intransigence has led to the catastrophe that we are witnessing today. Since April 2023, the SAF has followed the same script — bombing homes, schools, hospitals and markets, and turning hunger into a weapon of war. The SAF has punished its own people with terror, fire and, according to credible reports, chemical weapons. The SAF has resurrected the same extremism it once unleashed on Darfur. It has derailed and dismissed every peace effort and, only a few days ago in Washington, it rejected a proposal for a nationwide ceasefire before discussions even began. Each time negotiations faltered, the SAF answered with more bombs. Each time diplomacy offered a door, the SAF slammed it shut. The SAF’s maximalism — its military-first doctrine — has gained it nothing: only a Sudan in ruins and a people left to starve. And as the horrors in El Fasher unfold, the SAF’s representatives, in breathtaking cynicism, are denouncing the consequences of their own war as if they themselves were not the architects of Sudan’s misery. When the SAF walked away from last week’s attempt to reach a humanitarian ceasefire, it did so in full knowledge of what would follow. It knew that the price would be paid in Sudanese lives. It knew that El Fasher would burn. It did not care. Let us not forget that this is the same command that waged war on Darfur 20 years ago — the very same command that shelters men indicted for genocide and now claims to defend and mourn the civilians it once sought to destroy. This is truly obscene. For more than two years, my country, the United Arab Emirates — regardless of the lies repeated here  — has been clear: both the SAF and the RSF have disqualified themselves from shaping the future of the Sudan. It is time that the international community accepted that truth. No speech delivered in the Chamber by a representative of one of the warring factions can disguise who they are or what they are. The world must speak with the civilians of the Sudan — not their tormentors.

There are no more names inscribed on the list of speakers. I now invite Council members to informal consultations to continue our discussion on the subject.