The following webpage contains a range of guiding resources for understanding the roles of the United Nations and the African Union in relation to the ongoing conflict that erupted in April 2023 in Sudan, including:
Rapid response Analyses Additional Material
PILPG and partner law firms have collaborated to produce a series examining the actual and potential roles of United Nations and African Union special procedures in relation to the ongoing conflict that erupted in April 2023 in Sudan. Click on the images below to access the analyses.
This Rapid Response Analysis provides an overview of the formation and objectives of the Independent Fact-Finding Mission for Sudan (the “Sudan FFM”), as established by the UN Human Rights Council on October 11, 2023. By drawing on lessons learned from previous fact-finding missions, this Analysis also examines the potential impact of the Sudan FFM.
The conflict that erupted between the Sudanese Armed Forces and the Rapid Support Forces in April 2023 continues to cause extreme hardship in Sudan, with hundreds of thousands seeking refuge or being forcibly displaced from their homes. There are reportedly more than 3.6 million internally displaced persons currently in Sudan.
PILPG collaborated with Covington & Burling to produce a Rapid Response Analysis in light of these developments. The analysis, written by Covington’s Bart Szewczyk, Philipp Tamussino, Ruth Scoles Mitchell, and Karolina Reiter, and PILPG’s Alice Welland, Adrienne Fricke and Chris Goebel, sets out the mandate of the United Nations Special Rapporteur on the Human Rights of Internally Displaced Persons and the submissions procedure available to individuals and groups, and concludes with an assessment of the benefits of engaging the Special Rapporteur on the current situation in Sudan.
This Rapid Response Analysis focuses on specific issues related to the impact of extractive industries within the African Charter context, particularly violations of human and collective (peoples’) rights by non-state actors. Given the role of extractive industries and environmental factors as drivers of the current conflict in Sudan, effective management and regulation of natural resources could significantly contribute to peacemaking and peacebuilding. This analysis reviews the Working Group's mandate, ongoing activities, the process for submitting materials to it, and the potential relevance of such submissions in the context of the Sudanese conflict.
This Rapid Response Analysis explores the complaints mechanism established by the African Commission on Human and Peoples’ Rights and its relevance to the current Sudanese conflict. This mechanism, mandated to promote and protect human and collective rights while interpreting the African Charter, allows for the consideration of complaints (communications) regarding alleged Charter violations. The analysis outlines the submission process for state parties, individuals, and non-governmental organizations.
The Special Rapporteur is an independent human rights expert tasked with reporting, advising, and advocating on critical human rights concerns, particularly regarding transitional justice. The ongoing conflict in Sudan is causing alarming loss of life and egregious human rights violations. Furthering the investigation of such violations, the prosecution of perpetrators, reparations for victims and preventing future violations are at the core of the Special Rapporteur’s transitional justice mandate.
Read the analysis for an assessment of the advantages and benefits of engaging the Special Rapporteur to address the atrocity crimes committed in Sudan’s current conflict.
Join international law experts on November 9 at 12:00 pm ET / 6:00 pm Khartoum time for an expert roundtable on the recently established independent fact-finding mission for Sudan, an international mechanism charged with investigating human rights abuses committed during the ongoing civil conflict.