HART joins with 17 civil society organisations to release joint statement on Sudan

Joint Statement from Sudanese and International Civil Society Organisations

After 18 months of conflict, the situation in Sudan has significantly deteriorated. Civilians in regions like Darfur, Al Gezira, Khartoum, and Kordufan, among other areas of Sudan, are facing constant threats to their lives. They are trapped with no safe passage or protected zones. Due to institutional impunity, a lack of media coverage, widespread misinformation, and deliberate disinformation, Sudanese civilians’ suffering remains grossly overlooked, leading to a climate that allows further aggravation of these violations.

The increase in fighting over recent weeks highlights the escalating threats to civilians’ safety, with the warring parties showing next-to-no genuine commitment to ensuring their protection. Meanwhile, the international response continues to fall short of safeguarding civilians.

The international community and stakeholders focus their attention on humanitarian access and aid delivery – which are indeed critical concerns. However, the protection of civilians is being deprioritized. It is logical to protect the lives of those in need of humanitarian aid: it ensures that humanitarian processes are meaningful, and do not serve as political window dressing.

We call for a paradigm shift in the discourse on the Sudanese crisis, to place the protection of civilians at its core. Concrete and actionable steps must then be taken to achieve this.

This approach must be grounded in the stringent and non-negotiable enforcement of relevant International Humanitarian Law (IHL). This must apply to Sudanese civilians  in combat zones, in regions controlled by either warring party, and Sudanese refugees in neighboring countries. Regrettably, IHL obligations have been significantly overlooked and politicized in previous efforts to end the war in Sudan since its eruption in April 2023, resulting in further suffering. This needs to change.

We urge actors at all levels of the international community – particularly the African Union’s High-Level Panel on Sudan, members of the UN Security Council, the UN Secretary General, and all other relevant bodies – to deliver a concrete set of objectives, priorities, and means of protecting civilians. Particular attention should be paid to the physical safeguarding of civilians affected by the conflict.

Discourse limited to adopting a ceasefire as a prerequisite for civilian protection endangers more lives and enables the political exploitation of this humanitarian crisis. International actors are not mere observers; their inaction exacerbates the persistent misery. We implore the international community to publicly call for, and then adopt, a concrete, actionable framework for the physical protection of Sudanese civilians. In addition, to engage in consultations with Sudanese stakeholders to map and identify the feasible modalities for attaining this purpose.

Signatories:

Fikra for Studies and Development

Sudan and South Sudan Forum e.V.

The Strategic Initiative for Women in the Horn of Africa (SIHA)

African Organization for Rights and Development

The Sentry

Sudan Transparency and Policy Tracker

Humanitarian Aid Relief Trust (HART)

Society for Threatened Peoples, Germany

Genocide Watch

Sudan Human Rights Network (SHRN)

Darfur Youth Centre for Peace and Development

The Regional Centre for Training and Development of Civil Society RCDCS

Salam

Confluence Advisory

Sudanese organization for justice and human rights

DRC

The Circle