U.N. to hold urgent debate on Sudan's al-Obeid crisis

The U.N. Human Rights Council will hold an urgent debate on El Obeid on Friday in Geneva after Britain, Germany, Ireland, Norway and the Netherlands asked for the session. The council said the debate, its 13th urgent debate since 2006, will begin at 10:00 a.m. GMT+2 in the Palais des Nations and be livestreamed on UN Web TV.

The Rapid Support Forces and allied fighters are massing around El Obeid, where Britain warned that siege-like conditions have trapped thousands and cut off humanitarian aid as drone strikes intensify. Eleanor Sanders, Britain’s human rights ambassador, said up to 500,000 civilians were now at risk and warned against a repeat of preventable atrocities. A joint statement on behalf of the Coalition for Atrocity Prevention and Justice for Sudan and 21 other states warned that 10 consecutive days of drone strikes had killed at least 50 civilians across El Obeid and North Kordofan, damaged civilian infrastructure and left more than 100,000 internally displaced people in danger.

Volker Türk, the U.N. high commissioner for human rights, warned on June 18 that an imminent offensive on El Obeid risked the fresh commission of serious international crimes. He said the city had endured siege-like conditions for more than 18 months and that dozens of drone strikes over the previous two weeks had repeatedly hit fuel stations and trucks, killing civilians and disrupting access to basic services. Sudan's wider war began in April 2023 and has displaced more than 13 million people inside the country.

On June 22, the United States said the RSF and allied forces were massing around El Obeid in a way that greatly increased the risk of attacks on civilians and civilian objects, and that mass atrocities could be imminent. Human Rights Watch urged the council to seek an urgent inquiry from the U.N. fact-finding mission on Sudan and to confront outside actors supporting the war, including the United Arab Emirates, as part of any accountability response.

Requesting states also plan to present a draft resolution.