Addis Ababa, 7 June 2024: The Chairperson of the Commission, H.E. Moussa Faki Mahamat, condemns in the strongest terms the massacre carried out in Wad al Nourah, Gezira state, Sudan, on 5 June 2024. The Chairperson has learned with horror the devastating news that at least one hundred and fifty civilians, and including at least thirty-five children, have been indiscriminately killed in ongoing attacks on the town. This horrific death toll is a grim reminder that in this senseless war, women and children bear the brunt of the wanton destruction perpetrated by the warring parties. The devastating scenes of over one hundred bodies being prepared for burial must strengthen the resolve and commitment of the international community to put an end to this war once and for all.

The Chairperson would like to remind both warring parties in Sudan of their legal obligations to respect international humanitarian law, and perpetrators of this atrocity and others like it must be held to account.

The Chairperson is alarmed that, despite the many efforts of the international community to achieve a ceasefire between the two parties, the situation in Sudan has continued to deteriorate, and is leading to acute hunger and even famine in various parts of Sudan, threatening the lives of millions of civilians.

The Chairperson calls on the two warring parties, the Sudanese Armed Forces and the Rapid Support Forces, to immediately return to the Jeddah ceasefire process, to end the fighting unconditionally, and to facilitate unhindered humanitarian access to the needy population.