18 January 2026
Volker Türk briefed
journalists in the Kenyan capital following a five-day
mission to Sudan, where “a chronicle of cruelty is
unfolding before our very eyes”.
He called
on “all those who have any influence, including
regional actors and notably those who supply the arms and
benefit economically from this war” to act
urgently to bring it to an end.
Mr. Türk last visited
Sudan in November 2022. Back then, he was deeply inspired by
civil society—particularly the young people and women who
spearheaded the 2018 revolution.
Salute to the
people’s struggle for peace
While the war
between the Sudanese Armed Forces (SAF) and the Rapid
Support Forces (RSF) “has plunged the country into an
abyss of unfathomable proportions” – affecting the
entire nation and all its people – “the spirit of the
struggle for peace, justice and freedom…is not broken,”
he affirmed.
“I bore witness in Sudan to the
trauma of the unspeakable brutality that people have
suffered – but also to the resilience and defiance of the
human spirit.”
Mr. Türk met with various
sectors of society, including young people who organise and
deliver aid to their communities “often in the face of
massive bureaucratic hurdles, risking detention and
violence.”
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As one volunteer told him, “The
price of war is being paid by young people. Sudanese young
people are at the frontlines of this war, serving those who
are in need of humanitarian aid.”
End
‘intolerable attacks’ on
infrastructure
The rights chief highlighted
attacks on critical civilian
infrastructure, such as the Merowe dam and
hydroelectric power station which once supplied 70 per cent
of electricity needs nationwide.
It has been
repeatedly hit by drones launched by the RSF, including in
recent weeks. Such attacks are serious violations and can
amount to war crimes.
He called for both warring
parties to “cease intolerable attacks against civilian
objects that are indispensable to the civilian population,
including markets, health facilities, schools and
shelters.”
Mr. Türk also met people displaced from
the besieged city of El Fasher in North Darfur who are now
living in the Al Afad camp some 1,200 kilometres away. Among
them was a four-year-old who lost his hearing due to
bombardment and a three-year-old who wouldn’t
smile.
“One woman saw her husband and only son
killed,” he said. “She is still bedridden from grief,
trauma, and the bullet she took in her shoulder while trying
– in vain – to shield her
son.”
Women’s bodies
‘weaponized’
He shared the testimony of
Aisha*, 20, who was fleeing El Fasher on a
donkey cart in October when armed men on camels ordered the
women to come down. Her brother tried to intervene but was
shot, while her mother begged the men to take her instead of
the children.
“They hit her, took me and told me
to keep quiet or they will kill my mother. Then what
happened…happened. My period has not come since
then,” she told Mr. Türk.
In Sudan,
“women and girls’ bodies have been
weaponized,” he said. Sexual violence is being
used as a weapon of war – also a war crime – and it is
widespread and systematic.
The UN rights chief also
heard accounts of widespread summary executions. He
underlined that all parties to the conflict “have
perpetrated gross violations and abuses of international
human rights law and serious violations of international
humanitarian law, notably when the fighting intensifies to
control new areas.”
Concern for the Kordofan
region
He expressed deep concern that
atrocity crimes committed inf El Fasher are at risk
of being repeated in the Kordofan region, where
fighting has intensified since late October. This is
happening amid famine conditions in the city of Kadugli and
risk of famine elsewhere, including Dilling, he said in a
stark warning.
He deplored the proliferation
of advanced military equipment across Sudan,
particularly drones, saying “it is despicable that large
sums of money are being spent on procuring increasingly
advanced weaponry – funds that should be used to alleviate
the suffering of the population.”
Another concern is
the increasing militarization of society by
all parties to the conflict, including through the arming of
civilians and recruitment and use of children. Civil society
and journalists are also facing restrictions or being
targeted through smear campaigns.
Focus on the
Sudanese people
The UN rights chief concluded
his remarks by calling on the warring parties to protect
civilians and civilian infrastructure, guarantee safe
passage for people to leave conflict areas, and ensure
unimpeded access for the delivery of humanitarian
aid.
“Measures, such as humane treatment of
detainees, accounting for and establishing the fate of
missing persons, and releasing civilians detained for
alleged ‘collaboration’ with the opposing party are also
priority areas,” he added.
Mr. Türk repeated the
plea that he made when he last visited
Sudan.
“I urge all those involved to set
aside entrenched positions, power games, and personal
interests, and to focus on the common interests of the
Sudanese people,” he said.
“Again, I
leave with a plea that human rights be central to building
confidence and bringing this war to an end, to resuming the
difficult task of building a sustainable
peace.”
This is difficult, he acknowledged, “but
certainly not impossible, with the resilience and power of
the Sudanese people.”
*Name
changed for protection
purposes.
