New York — The Committee to Protect Journalists (CPJ) joined 67 other civil society organizations in calling on the UN Human Rights Council to extend the mandate of the Independent International Fact-Finding Mission for the Sudan (FFM) for two years and provide it with adequate resources to investigate grave violations and support accountability.

Ahead of the Council's 63rd session, the groups urged states to strengthen the FFM's ability to investigate abuses, identify perpetrators, and preserve evidence. Its continued work is critical to ensuring that attacks on journalists in Sudan are documented and those responsible can be held accountable.

For journalists in Sudan, the FFM is one of the few international mechanisms capable of independently documenting attacks and preserving evidence that could help hold authorities and non-state perpetrators accountable. This is particularly critical as the Rapid Support Forces (RSF) and other parties to the conflict continue to target journalists through killings, detention, abduction, threats, and other abuses, often with complete impunity.

The joint-statement is available in English here.