Sudan pushes to end UN rights mission, rebuffs violation claims

July 28, 2025 (PORT SUDAN) – Sudan’s government on Monday said it wants to end the mandate of a U.N. fact-finding mission investigating human rights violations in its war, as the justice minister rebuffed the mission’s concerns over abuses and harsh death sentences.

Justice Minister Abdallah Diraf made the comments after meeting with the U.N.’s Independent Expert on human rights in Sudan, Radhouane Nouicer, in the army’s administrative capital of Port Sudan.

Diraf said he formally conveyed Sudan’s desire to “end the Fact-Finding Mission,” which was established by the U.N. Human Rights Council in October 2023 to document war crimes and identify perpetrators. The army-led government has consistently opposed the mission, which it views as an infringement on its sovereignty.

The minister challenged the U.N. expert’s concerns about violations, including the arrests of anti-war activists and death sentences handed down to alleged collaborators of the rival Rapid Support Forces (RSF).

“Open talk about violations without detailed information is unacceptable and unhelpful,” Diraf said in a statement, demanding specific cases instead of what he called “hearsay.”

He defended Sudan’s judicial process, stating that any punishment, including the death penalty for crimes like treason, is applied according to the law and is not arbitrarily “harsh.”

Diraf reiterated the government’s demand that the RSF be designated a terrorist group and not be equated with the national army. He also accused other countries, specifically the United Arab Emirates and Chad, of arming the RSF in violation of a U.N. Security Council resolution. The UAE has repeatedly denied such claims.

In a separate criticism of the international community, the minister said Sudan had received only 16% of the humanitarian funding it requires, calling it a “major failure by the United Nations and its agencies” amid a catastrophic hunger crisis.