Sudanese Alliance for Rights (SAR) Escalates International Action Against Sudan’s Use of Chemical Weapons
Press Release
For Immediate Release
26 September 2025
Since April 2023, Sudan has been caught in a severe conflict between the Sudanese Armed Forces (SAF) and the Rapid Support Forces (RSF). What started in Khartoum has quickly spread throughout the country, including Darfur, West Kordofan, and Al Jazira. The war has led to one of the world’s worst humanitarian crises: over 150,000 people killed, more than 10.5 million displaced, and 25 million pushed into extreme food insecurity.
As the fighting has escalated, so too have the tactics. Reports document indiscriminate aerial bombardments, destruction of civilian infrastructure, and deliberate targeting of markets, hospitals, schools, and water sources. Most alarmingly, there is growing evidence that the Sudanese Armed Forces have deployed chemical weapons against civilian populations. Victims and eyewitnesses describe symptoms such as respiratory distress, burns, neurological damage, and water contamination — all consistent with exposure to toxic agents like chlorine gas.
Throughout the year, international concern has been mounting, on 22 May 2025,the United States government imposed sanctions on Sudan after determining its forces had used chemical weapons in 2024, in violation of the Chemical Weapons Convention (CWC). Human Rights Watch, Amnesty International, and independent media have documented similar patterns of abuse. In response to the escalating atrocities despite the above mentioned pressure, Sudanese Alliance for Rights (SAR) has launched a coordinated campaign for justice and accountability through multiple international mechanisms.
SAR has requested urgent technical assistance and an independent fact-finding mission. The OPCW is the treaty body mandated to uphold the Chemical Weapons Convention (CWC), to which Sudan is a State Party. By engaging the OPCW, SAR seeks internationally recognised verification of chemical weapons use through accredited laboratories and chain-of-custody investigations. This step is critical not only to confirm violations but also to ensure that evidence gathered can be relied upon in legal proceedings at the regional and international level.
SAR has also filed a detailed communication under Article 15 of the Rome Statute, presenting evidence based on research carried out this year, that SAF authorised and deployed chemical weapons in Darfur, Khartoum, and Al Jazira. The use of chemical weapons constitutes war crimes, and depending on intent and targeting, may also amount to crimes against humanity or genocide. By taking this case to the ICC, SAR seeks individual criminal accountability for those who ordered or enabled these attacks, ensuring that impunity at the highest levels of command is challenged.
Additionally, SAR lodged a complaint demonstrating Sudan’s violations of the African Charter on Human and Peoples’ Rights, including the rights to life, dignity, health, property, and peace. The ACHPR provides a regional accountability avenue that not only addresses state responsibility but can also issue urgent protective measures. SAR is pressing the Commission to call for an immediate halt to chemical weapons use, order reparations for victims, and demand environmental decontamination of affected areas. This regional action is vital for mobilising African institutions and states to take a stand against Sudan’s violations.
The deliberate use of chemical weapons marks a horrifying escalation in Sudan’s war against its own people. These atrocities not only violate international law but also shatter the conscience of humanity. The Sudanese Alliance for Rights calls on the world to act decisively: to investigate, hold perpetrators accountable, and stand with the victims whose suffering must not be ignored. Justice for Sudan cannot wait.