ICRC uges global leaders to take action to protect Sudanese
(MENAFN) The president of the International Committee of the Red Cross (ICRC) on Friday urged global leaders to take immediate steps to halt the indiscriminate killing of civilians in Sudan, describing conditions in El-Fasher and other regions as a “humanitarian catastrophe.”
“The appalling abuses of the rules of war we are witnessing in Sudan are indefensible,” Mirjana Spoljaric said. “No patient should be killed in a hospital, and no civilian shot while trying to flee their home.” She stressed that “these horrific attacks must stop and international humanitarian law must be respected.”
Spoljaric warned that civilians are facing “brutal attacks, rampant sexual violence and the deliberate destruction of essential services,” noting that hospitals and health centers “once dedicated to saving lives have become scenes of death and destruction.” Despite repeated calls by the ICRC for warring parties to adhere to international humanitarian law, violations “continue to be committed with impunity,” she said.
The ICRC president also condemned attacks on humanitarian personnel, highlighting that “just this week in North Kordofan, five of our colleagues from the Sudanese Red Crescent Society were killed.” She urged world leaders to show political courage, emphasizing that “lives in Sudan now depend on strong and decisive action to stop these atrocities. The world cannot stand by as civilians are stripped of safety and dignity.”
Echoing these concerns, World Food Program (WFP) Executive Director Cindy McCain called on the international community to act against the “devastating violence” in El-Fasher. “Families are running for their lives, hungry and exhausted. These brutal attacks must end. Now,” she said on X, underlining the need for the UN organization to operate with “full independence and neutrality” to assist those in urgent need.
Sudan has been engulfed in a civil conflict between the army and the paramilitary Rapid Support Forces (RSF) since April 2023, resulting in thousands of deaths and the displacement of millions. El-Fasher, the capital of North Darfur, fell under RSF control on Sunday following months of siege, with rights groups accusing the RSF of mass killings, detentions, and attacks on hospitals.
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