The Sudanese Armed Forces (SAF) and the paramilitary Rapid Support Forces (RSF), who engaged in warfare on April 15 2023, have been added to the UN’s “list of shame” for violations of children’s rights during armed conflict, according to the annual report of the Secretary-General, Antonio Guterres, obtained by the French Press Agency on Tuesday.
Guterres’s annual report, expected to be officially released on Thursday, details violations of children’s rights (under 18) in approximately 20 conflict zones worldwide and includes annexes outlining violations such as killings and maiming, forced recruitment, abductions, sexual violence, etc.
The report extensively covers the war that erupted in the spring of last year between the SAF, led by General Abdel Fattah al-Burhan, and the RSF paramilitary forces, commanded by his former right-hand man turned sworn enemy, General Mohammed Hamdan Dagalo.
It highlights an “alarming 480% increase” in grave violations against children in the African country between 2022 and 2023.
The UN confirmed that in 2023, 1,721 grave violations were perpetrated, affecting 1,526 children, including 480 killed and 764 injured.
“I am appalled by the dramatic increase in grave violations, particularly the recruitment and use of children, their killing and maiming, and attacks on schools and hospitals, as well as the deterioration of humanitarian access,” Guterres’s report states.
“I am also deeply concerned about the escalation of inter-communal violence, including attacks linked to ethnicity and the mass displacement of children,” he adds.
Not a First-Time Offence
In this context, the Secretary-General decided to add the Sudanese Armed Forces to the “list of shame” due to their responsibility for the killing and injuring of children, attacks on schools and hospitals, and bombardments in densely-populated areas.
This is not the first time the Sudanese Armed Forces have been included on this list, as they were also included from 2016 to 2018.
Regarding the RSF, in addition to the killing and injuring of children and attacks on schools and hospitals, their inclusion on the list of shame was also due to rapes and other forms of sexual violence against children and the forced recruitment of dozens of children into their ranks.
(information from amna.gr)
