Sudan: Catastrophe Unfolding in El-Obeid - UN Rights Envoy

4 July 2026
Deutsche Welle (Bonn)
By Felix Tamsut with Reuters, AFP, AP

As summary executions, abductions, torture and sexual violence plague el-Obeid, Sudan, the UN's human rights chief said the world must take action to stop preventable atrocities.

The United Nations human rights chief Volker Türk called on the world to take action due to the unfolding human rights catastrophe around the besieged city of el-Obeid in Sudan.

According to Türk, civilians have been suffering from siege-like conditions for 18 months, which include a shortage of clean water and drone strikes. Turk pointed out a pattern of executions, abductions, torture and sexual violence along the routes taken by displaced people in the Kordofan region.

"The signs from el-Obeid are clear and unmistakable: Another human rights catastrophe is unfolding in Sudan," Turk told the UN Human Rights Council in Geneva.

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Repeat of 'preventable atrocities'

British Human Rights Ambassador Eleanor Sanders warned that up to 500,000 civilians were at risk of suffering atrocities. El-Obeid is one of Sudan's largest cities, with many displaced people from other conflict areas looking for shelter there.

"We cannot allow a repeat of preventable atrocities," Sanders told the Council upon calling for the urgent debate to take place. Germany, Ireland, Norway and the Netherlands backed the request.

Fighting for more than three years

El-Obeid, the capital of the North Kordofan state, has seen fighting between Sudan's army and the paramilitary group Rapid Support Forces (RSF). The fighting has been going on for the past three years, causing a humanitarian crisis in the region.

The UN's human rights office said at least 45 civilians were killed and 41 injured in 15 drone strikes in el-Obeid and the surrounding region between June 6 and 28.

The city of al-Fashir saw some 6,000 people being killed in three days as the RSF captured the city in October, according to the UN.

War crimes recorded by both sides

Human rights groups also said both sides had committed war crimes, with the RSF being accused of repeated atrocities and ethnic violence, including in Darfur, where its forces are dominant.

Mohieldin Salim Ahmed Ibrahim, Sudan's foreign minister, called on the international community to do everything in its power to stop the deliveries of weapons and other military equipment to the RSF.

Edited by: Sean Sinico

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