UN rights council extends Sudan atrocities investigation for one year

October 6, 2025 (GENEVA) – The U.N. Human Rights Council voted on Monday to extend its fact-finding mission in Sudan for one year, allowing investigators to continue documenting atrocities in the conflict between the army and the paramilitary Rapid Support Forces (RSF).

The resolution to prolong the mandate of the Independent International Fact-Finding Mission (FFM) was adopted by a vote of 24 in favour and 11 against, with 12 abstentions.

The extension follows a damning report from the mission in September, which found both the Sudanese Armed Forces (SAF) and the RSF have committed violations amounting to war crimes. The FFM also found reasonable grounds to believe the RSF has committed crimes against humanity.

“By docu­menting and exposing crimes committed by all parties, the FFM helps ensure that acc­oun­tability remains central to any long-term solution to Sudan’s conflict,” said Has­san Shire, Executive Director of the rights group Defend­Defenders, in a statement.

The resolution condemns widespread violations, including killings, torture, rape, the shelling of civilian areas, and the use of starvation as a weapon of war. It also warned of “clear parallels” between current ethnically motivated attacks and previous atrocities in Darfur.

While rights groups welcomed the renewal, they noted it fell short of their call for a two-year extension and did not include a provision for the mission to make direct recommendations to the U.N. Security Council.

“The Council missed an opportunity…it could have done more to match the gravity of Sudan’s crisis with the international and media attention it deserves,” said Estella Kan­siime of DefendDefenders.

The fact-finding mission was first established in October 2023. It is now scheduled to present its next report to the U.N. General Assembly in October 2026.