GENEVA – The United Nations Human Rights Council has voted to extend the mandate of its independent fact-finding mission on Sudan for another year, enabling investigators to continue documenting widespread violations committed during the country’s ongoing war between the Sudanese Armed Forces (SAF) and the paramilitary Rapid Support Forces (RSF).
The decision was made on Monday following a contentious vote in Geneva, where 24 member states backed the resolution, 11 opposed it, and 12 abstained. The extension ensures the independent International Fact-Finding Mission (FFM) will maintain its operations through 2026, gathering evidence and testimonies related to grave abuses across Sudan.
The decision follows the mission’s September report, which concluded that both the SAF and the RSF had committed acts amounting to war crimes. The mission also found reasonable grounds to believe that RSF forces were responsible for crimes against humanity, including targeted attacks on civilians and acts of sexual and ethnic violence.
The Human Rights Council established the mission in October 2023 as international concern grew over reports of massacres, mass displacement, and sexual violence linked to the conflict that erupted in April last year. Since then, the war has devastated Sudan, killing thousands, displacing millions, and pushing the country to the brink of famine.
In its September findings, the mission documented widespread abuses by both parties to the conflict. Investigators reported that RSF fighters carried out large-scale attacks in Darfur targeting civilians along ethnic lines, while the SAF conducted airstrikes and shelling in populated areas such as Omdurman and Khartoum, resulting in significant civilian casualties and damage to infrastructure.
Member states were divided over whether to extend the mission’s work. Supporters argued that continuing the investigation is essential to ensure accountability and to preserve evidence that could support future judicial processes. Countries opposing the resolution, including Sudan and some of its allies, claimed that the extension undermines national sovereignty and complicates ongoing regional peace efforts.
Human rights groups have described the renewal as a critical step toward securing justice for victims of the war. They emphasized the importance of maintaining independent documentation of violations amid the collapse of Sudan’s justice system and the continuing insecurity that has hindered humanitarian access.
With the new mandate in place, the FFM will continue gathering testimonies from witnesses, survivors, and aid workers, along with digital satellite evidence from conflict-affected areas. Its next report to the Human Rights Council is expected in 2026 and will provide updated findings from Darfur, Kordofan, and Khartoum.
As the conflict enters its third year, the situation in Sudan remains catastrophic. Millions of civilians are trapped in areas of active fighting with little access to food, water, or medical care. International observers view the extension of the UN investigation as one of the few mechanisms left to ensure continued global attention and accountability for the crimes being committed in Sudan.
