" Sudan: Türk decries catastrophic cost of inaction as conflict approaches third year" 11 April 2025

Warring parties in Sudan are overseeing a wholesale assault on human rights amid global inaction, with deeply catastrophic consequences for civilians, said UN High Commissioner for Human Rights Volker Türk today as the conflict approaches its third year.

“As hostilities have expanded in reach and intensity over the past year, the lives and hopes of so many Sudanese have been uprooted and caught in a mire of death, deprivation and suffering,” said Türk. “Two years of this brutal and senseless conflict must be a wake-up call to the parties to lay down their weapons and for the international community to act. Sudan must not remain on this destructive path.”

He said the ongoing conflict is not merely a power struggle but is significantly influenced by the economic and business interests of national and international actors in key sectors such as gold and agricultural commodities. Revenue generated from international trade in Sudan’s gold, gum arabic, and livestock has become the financial backbone of the war economy.

Proliferation of arms and continued weapons supplies, including to the western Darfur region, where a UN Security Council arms embargo is in place, are also compounding the fighting, enabling violations of international law and undermining peace efforts. “All those involved in facilitating the transfer of arms and military material to Darfur must stop, in line with their obligations to comply with the arms embargo,” said Türk, also calling for the arms embargo to be expanded to cover the whole of Sudan. [...]