Africa-Press – Cape verde. Hunger is being used as a “weapon of war” in Sudan and the foreign governments that help them are complicit in “war crimes”, United Nations (UN) experts said today.
The war in Sudan has been going on since April 2023 between the regular army, led by General Abdel Fattah al-Burhan, and the Rapid Support Forces (RSF), led by his former deputy Mohamed Hamdan Daglo.
The conflict in Sudan has caused tens of thousands of deaths and displaced more than nine million people, according to the UN.
Four independent experts from the United Nations highlighted that more than 25 million civilians are in a situation of near famine and are in urgent need of humanitarian assistance.
“The regular army and the RSF are using food as a weapon to satisfy civilian hunger,” said the experts, including the special rapporteur on the right to food.
They mentioned the siege of el-Fasher, the capital of the State of North Darfur, the only capital of the five Darfur States that is not in the hands of the RSF, which threatens hundreds of thousands of civilians who suffer from hunger and thirst.
“The scale of the hunger and displacement we are seeing in Sudan is unprecedented,” said the experts, appointed by the UN Human Rights Council but speaking only in their own name.
The experts called on both sides to “stop blocking, looting and exploiting humanitarian aid.”
Local efforts to respond to the crisis have been hampered by unprecedented violence, as well as attacks targeting aid workers, they said.
“The deliberate targeting of aid workers and local volunteers has undermined humanitarian aid operations, putting millions of people at risk of starvation,” they said.
Experts state that “foreign governments that provide financial and military aid to both sides of the conflict are complicit in malnutrition, crimes against humanity and war crimes.”
Experts called on the warring parties to agree to an immediate ceasefire and inclusive political talks.
MEPs also called on the international community to “accelerate humanitarian action”.
“It is imperative that the UN, international donors and governments accelerate efforts to alleviate the suffering of millions of Sudanese who are affected by malnutrition,” they said.
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