United Nations High Commissioner for Human Rights Volker Türk delivered a speech together with Mohamed Chande Othman, President of the Independent International Fact-Finding Mission for Sudan established by the Council in October 2023.
Increase in civilian deaths
Türk presented his latest report, in which he outlines “another chapter in the chronicle of cruelty.” As the fighting intensified, violations committed by all sides increased “while accountability remained virtually absent,” he said.
The documentation from his office, the OHCHR, “points to A more than two-and-a-half-fold increase in civilian killings” in 2025, compared to the previous year..
The most recent data indicates that at least 11,300 civilians died last year (almost triple the number in 2024), while many thousands remain missing or unidentified.
Women’s bodies are “weapons”
Both the RSF and the Sudanese army have continued to use explosive weapons in densely populated areas, often without warning, showing “complete disregard for human life”, the High Commissioner said.
Schools, hospitals, markets, religious sites and critical infrastructure have been attacked.
“The bodies of Sudanese women and girls have been used as weapons to terrorize communities,” he added.
“In 2025, we identified more than 500 victims of sexual violence, including rape, gang rape, sexual torture and slavery, in some cases resulting in death. And when I was in Sudan earlier this year, I heard the heartbreaking testimonies of at least 10 of them.”
‘Carnage’ in El Fasher, concern for the Kordofan
Meanwhile, the RSF’s capture of the Zamzam camp in northern Darfur in April, and its offensive on the besieged state capital, El Fasher, six months later “triggered a massacre that claimed thousands of lives, amounting to war crimes and possible crimes against humanity.”
The UN human rights chief recalled that although he had repeatedly warned about the risks facing the city, the massacre was not prevented.
“As the epicenter of the war moves to the Kordofan region, I am deeply concerned that these crimes will be repeated. These are patterns of atrocious and merciless brutality..”
He pointed out that there is already “a Worrying escalation of drone attacks and blockades by both the RSF and SAF in Kordofan and beyond, including humanitarian aid convoys.” These attacks have killed or injured almost 600 civilians since the beginning of the year.
Genocidal fears
The fact-finding mission to Sudan published its latest report last week and Othman warned of the continued risk of further genocidal violence the longer the war continues.
He said the situation around El-Fasher “shows clear characteristics of genocide” by the RSF against the Zaghawa and Fur communities, as evidenced by mass killings, causing severe physical and mental harm and deliberately inflicting living conditions calculated to bring about their total or partial physical destruction.
El Fasher had been under siege for more than a year and the mission documented Widespread and systematic murders throughout the city.. He highlighted the bloodshed in the El-Saudi hospital, where more than 460 people died, including patients, doctors and the wounded.
“The videos recorded and released by the perpetrators show executions accompanied by ethnic insults,” he said.
“Survivors report statements such as: ‘Are there any Zaghawa among you? If we find Zaghawa, we will kill you all’ and ‘We want to eliminate everything black from Darfur.'”
The crimes in El Fasher “reflect the continuity and escalation of patterns of violence and the risk of them spreading further, including to Kordofan,” he said, warning that “Without urgent protection and credible accountability, the risk of further genocidal violence remains serious and ongoing..”