UN High Commissioner for Human Rights Volker Türk sounded an urgent alarm on Friday over the escalating ethnic violence in Sudan. Reports of ethnically motivated attacks, hate speech, and violence against civilians have become increasingly common in the ongoing conflict that has already devastated the lives of millions.
Turk warned, “Retaliatory attacks – of shocking brutality – on entire communities based on real or perceived ethnic identity are on the rise, as is hate speech and incitement to violence. This must, urgently, be brought to an end.”
The high commissioner emphasized the immediate need for independent investigations into alleged war crimes and called on both the Sudanese Armed Forces (SAF) and Rapid Support Forces (RSF) to uphold international humanitarian law. He stated, “The proliferation of militia recruitment and mobilization of fighters, largely along ethnic lines, risks unleashing a broader civil war and inter-communal violence.”
In Al Jazirah state, reports have emerged of attacks targeting the historically marginalized Kanabi group, which is comprised of Nuba and other African tribes. Last week, two separate attacks claimed the lives of at least 21 civilians. On January 10, armed groups torched homes, looted property, and displaced dozens of families in Taiba Camp, killing at least eight civilians and abducting 14 others. The following day, 13 more civilians were killed in an attack on Kambo Khamsa Camp.
The assaults are reportedly linked to the Sudan Shield Forces, a militia led by former RSF Commander Abu Aqla Keikal, who defected to the SAF. Türk described the attacks as part of a dangerous trend of violence driven by ethnic divisions and fueled by hate speech that dehumanizes targeted communities.
The war began in April 2023 and has claimed tens of thousands of lives, displaced millions of people, and plunged the nation into one of the worst humanitarian crises in the world. The US recently imposed sanctions on SAF leader Abdel Fattah al-Burhan for attacks on schools, markets, and hospitals, as well as on RSF commander Mohamed Hamdan Daglo for genocide and ethnic cleansing.
