Federation of Sudanese Human Rights Organisations
Human Rights Organizations: Sudanese Army Targets Humanitarian Agencies and Uses Aerial Bombardment to Intimidate Civilians and Silence the International Community
UN Geneva / 16 September 2025
In a joint human rights statement delivered during the general debate under Item 2 of the United Nations Human Rights Council’s agenda, Sudanese and international organizations exposed grave war crimes and serious violations committed by the Sudanese Armed Forces and allied militias. These crimes included attacks on offices and facilities of United Nations agencies and international humanitarian organizations such as UNICEF and the World Food Programme, alongside strikes on medical facilities and Sudanese civil society organizations. The statement emphasized that such attacks form part of a systematic pattern aimed at undermining the work of the international community and silencing voices documenting violations against civilians in Sudan.
Bombing Humanitarian Organizations and Civilian Facilities
The statement reported that the Sudanese army deliberately bombed UNICEF and World Food Programme offices in several areas, in addition to destroying facilities of medical organizations providing essential services to the population. It stressed that these attacks constitute blatant violations of international humanitarian law, as they target organizations protected under the Geneva Conventions and dedicated exclusively to humanitarian relief.
Sudanese and international human rights groups affirmed that these were not isolated incidents but rather part of a deliberate strategy to deprive civilians of basic aid, block access to food and medicine, and prolong the humanitarian crisis.
Part of a Wider Pattern of Violations
According to the statement, these attacks are consistent with a broader pattern of abuses committed by the Sudanese Armed Forces since the conflict erupted in April 2023. These include the use of internationally prohibited weapons, the bombardment of densely populated towns and cities, ethnic cleansing operations in Darfur and Al-Jazira, and systematic sexual violence against women and girls.
The statement further highlighted those human rights defenders and members of Sudanese civil society organizations have been subjected to arbitrary arrests and intimidation campaigns, in a clear attempt to silence their voices and obstruct efforts to document crimes and promote accountability.
Bombardment as a Tool to Silence the International Community
The organizations asserted that the targeting of international and humanitarian organizations reflects a clear intent by the Sudanese army to obstruct international efforts and block aid from reaching civilians. It also serves as a direct threat to the United Nations and its partners, pressuring them to retreat from their crucial role in documenting war crimes and crimes against humanity, and in advocating for justice and accountability.
Breach of International Law and War Crimes
The statement underscored that these practices amount to war crimes and serious breaches of international humanitarian law, including the Geneva Conventions, which explicitly prohibit attacks on humanitarian organizations and medical facilities. It added that assaults on humanitarian workers pose a direct challenge to the international system designed to safeguard civilians during armed conflict.
Calls for International Action
The human rights organizations urged the Human Rights Council to take a clear and unequivocal stance condemning these crimes and to ensure their inclusion within the mandate of the International Fact-Finding Mission on Sudan. They also called on the Office of the High Commissioner for Human Rights to document these violations in its official reports and exert greater pressure on the military authorities in Port Sudan to protect civilians and humanitarian workers.
Furthermore, the statement called on the United Nations Security Council to act urgently by imposing targeted sanctions on military leaders implicated in these abuses and to consider referring the situation in Sudan to the International Criminal Court to guarantee that perpetrators do not escape accountability.
A Real Test for the Human Rights Council
Concluding their statement, Sudanese human rights groups stressed that the targeting of humanitarian organizations marks a dangerous escalation in the conflict and places the Human Rights Council before a real test of its ability to act effectively to protect civilians and ensure accountability. They warned that international silence in the face of such crimes would be interpreted as complicity and would only embolden further violations of international human rights and humanitarian law.