UN HRC54: UK Statement on Sudan
Statement for Interactive Dialogue on the Oral Update of the High Commissioner on the Sudan, as delivered by UK Human Rights Ambassador, Rita French.
Thank you, Mr President,
We again condemn the Sudanese Armed Forces and Rapid Support Forces for dragging Sudan into a wholly unjustified war, utterly disregarding the wishes of the Sudanese people.
The targeted and indiscriminate use of force against civilians particularly in Khartoum and Darfur, are horrific.
With our international partners, we’ll do all we can to bring all parties involved in these heinous crimes to justice.
Thousands are dead; 4.8 million have been displaced; and half the population needs humanitarian assistance. So it defies belief that, with such unprecedented need, both sides are making the delivery of life-saving supplies to people they claim to wish to protect so extraordinarily difficult and bureaucratic.
There is no military solution. And every day the parties to the conflict fail to accept this fact, silence their guns and negotiate an enduring ceasefire, is further proof that this is a war for power, ego and greed, which is destroying the rights, and the lives, of the brave people of Sudan.
Mr President,
The world is watching the dreadful events taking place in Sudan and especially in Darfur. We will take every possible step, for however long it takes, to ensure there are credible investigations and accountability that, finally, addresses the decades-long impunity enjoyed by those claiming to lead Sudan.
Thank you.