HRC 63 – Oral statement on the situation in Sudan

HUMAN RIGHTS COUNCIL 63nd Session 

Interactive Dialogue with the Independent International Fact-Finding Mission for the Sudan 

7th September 2026 

Thank you, Mr. President.   

The Fact-Finding Mission’s report confirms what Sudanese survivors and civil society have been documenting for years, and what Legal Action Worldwide found in its March report on the siege of El Fasher: external arms transfers and military support are enabling atrocities in Sudan. 

Those transfers sustain sieges, supply the attacks on civilians, and enable widespread sexual violence. For over 3 years they have prolonged a war in which the most vulnerable communities have been deliberately targeted, in predominantly ethnicised attacks. 

Members of this Council are in a position to interrupt that supply. We ask them to halt arms transfers to the warring parties, and to enforce the Darfur arms embargo with the rigor it has so far lacked. They must open investigations into the individuals, entities and networks whose military support is being used to commit violations in Sudan. 

Accountability is possible. In June, Legal Action Worldwide filed the first ever war crimes and crimes against humanity complaints on behalf of 12 survivors, in Kenya. States with the means to act have options; what has been lacking is the will. 

Mr. President, 

What concrete measures will the Mission take to ensure that its evidence of external support is used to pursue accountability, including for those supplying the arms? Thank you.