The United Nations Human Rights Council held a special emergency session on November 14, 2025, to address alarming reports from El-Fasher, a city in Darfur, Sudan, recently captured by the Rapid Support Forces (RSF).
During the session, member states considered a draft resolution establishing a fact finding mission to investigate alleged mass atrocity crimes, including ethnically motivated killings, summary executions, widespread sexual violence (including rape as a weapon of war), torture, and other grave violations.
Volker Turk, the U.N. High Commissioner for Human Rights, strongly condemned what he called “Naked cruelty” used to subjugate and terrorize civilian populations in El-Fasher.
The resolution “Strongly condemns” the atrocities allegedly committed by the RSF and its allied forces. The fact finding mission is tasked with identifying, where possible, individuals “for whom there are reasonable grounds to believe” they bear responsibility for violations of international law.
The Council requested the mission to present a report at its 61st session, followed by an “Enhanced interactive dialogue” involving the High Commissioner for Human Rights. The session’s adopted resolution also calls on all parties, particularly the RSF and the Sudanese Armed Forces, to allow Unhindered humanitarian access into El Fasher, especially to famine affected populations.
The resolution was adopted without a vote, indicating consensus. Several countries, including the UK, the EU, Norway and Ghana supported the resolution.
In his remarks, Turk also warned about a worsening situation in Kordofan another critical region in Sudan, with further attacks, blockades, mass displacement and a deteriorating humanitarian situation.
The Council strongly condemned “large scale atrocities such as ethnically motivated Killings, Torture, Summary executions and Widespread use of sexual and gender based violence as a weapon of warfare.”
