The United Nations Human Rights Council decided to hold an emergency session next Friday to discuss the tragic situation in the Sudanese city of El Obeid, at a time when international and UN warnings of widespread atrocities against civilians and the exacerbation of waves of forced displacement in the Kordofan region have escalated, in light of the ongoing war between the army and the Rapid Support Forces (RSF).
The specter of El Fasher violations haunts the city of El Obeid
The Human Rights Council announced in an official statement that it will hold an emergency special session to discuss the deteriorating human rights situation in and around the city of El Obeid in North Kordofan, as a result of the blockade, the ongoing military bombardment and the ongoing conflict in Sudan.
The council's announcement came after Britain, with the official support of Germany, Ireland, the Netherlands and Norway, addressed the Human Rights Council, which is currently convening in its regular session, calling for an emergency international debate to stop the potential humanitarian catastrophe in North Kordofan.
The European countries plan to submit an urgent draft resolution to the council and its 47 members to demand immediate de-escalation and the protection of the city's infrastructure, which has been besieged for months by the Rapid Support Forces (RSF).
In their joint speech, Western capitals warned that some 500,000 civilians in the city of El Obeid could suffer atrocities and grave violations on a large scale, similar to the crimes witnessed in the city of El Fasher after its invasion.
Targeting medical and security personnel in Darfur and Kordofan
The Sudan Doctors' Network said in a human rights statement that the Rapid Support Forces (RSF) have been detaining 20 doctors, including 4 women, since they invaded the city of El Fasher, the capital of North Darfur state, last October, stressing that their fate is still unknown until now.
The NGO called on the Rapid Support Forces (RSF) to immediately disclose the detention facilities of medical personnel and allow them to carry out their humanitarian duties, noting that the number of deaths from the health sector in North Darfur has reached 25 people as a result of direct targeting.
In its Displacement Tracking Matrix report, IOM reported that its field teams monitored the displacement of 2,245 people from the towns of Kadugli and Dilling and the local villages of Habila in South Kordofan, as a result of the escalation of fighting during the period from 28 to 30 June.
The UN has documented 109 security incidents that have caused severe waves of internal displacement in Kordofan, revealing that the total number of displaced people from the three states of Kordofan has risen to 219,319 displaced people distributed across 14 Sudanese states.
Tom Fletcher, the UN under-secretary-general for humanitarian affairs and emergency relief coordinator, said the escalation of drone attacks is killing civilians and disrupting drinking water and electricity supply lines in the city of al-Obeid.
Fletcher warned of the approaching rainy season, which will increase the suffering of the displaced and the risk of an outbreak of cholera and waterborne diseases, calling on all parties to respect international humanitarian law and open immediate safe corridors for civilians and aid.
All-out Famine and Civic Movements for the Declaration of the Armistice
The food crisis in Sudan is becoming more complex and serious as a result of the disruption of markets and supply chains, the United Nations World Food Programme (WFP) said, noting that millions of families are now completely dependent on foreign aid to survive.
The latest analysis by the Integrated Food Security Interim Classification (IPC) revealed that some 19.5 million people are facing severe levels of food insecurity, including more than 5 million in the critical emergency phase, with conditions expected to deteriorate between June and September.
In a joint statement, 46 Sudanese, regional and international organizations called for the declaration of a comprehensive, immediate and unconditional humanitarian truce across the country, warning that the city of El Obeid will turn into an open battleground where ethnic cleansing and grave violations are committed.
These tragic developments come as the war in Sudan between the Sudanese army and the Rapid Support Forces (RSF) enters its fourth year, killing tens of thousands and displacing more than 13 million people in the largest internal displacement and hunger crisis currently witnessing the world, according to UN estimates.
According to Sudanese field sources, the battle of Kordofan and the city of El Obeid is gaining great strategic and humanitarian importance following the control of the Rapid Support Forces (RSF) in El Fasher, the last stronghold of the army in Darfur, which makes the siege imposed on El Obeid a direct threat to the exhausted medical and food system, and pushes the files of violations and the detention of health workers to the lobbies of the UN Human Rights Council amid fears of a recurrence of bloody scenarios in Darfur.
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