Why Sudan’s war demands more than expressions of concern
COMMENT | HASSAN SHIRE | As the African Commission on Human and Peoples’ Rights (ACHPR) convenes its 89th ordinary session scheduled for October 12-21, 2026, Sudan’s war demands more than expressions of concern; it demands decisive action.
More than three years into a conflict defined by mass atrocities, forced displacement, and civilian suffering, the crisis has become a test of whether international and regional human rights mechanisms can respond with the urgency that accountability requires. Last week, the United Nations Human Rights Council took a crucial step by adopting resolution L.26 with four African countries voting in favour and extending the mandate of the Independent International Fact-Finding Mission (FFM) on Sudan. This decision is critical because it enables the FFM to continue investigating, collecting, and preserving evidence to hold perpetrators accountable. The ACHPR must now help sustain pressure for justice.
Since fighting broke out on 15 April 2023 between the Sudanese Armed Forces, the Rapid Support Forces, and their respective allied forces, civilians have paid the highest price. More than 14 million people have been displaced, and 33.7 million—two-thirds of the population—need humanitarian assistance. These figures are not merely statistics; they reflect a country being torn apart. Nor is this only an internal war.
In its latest report, the UN FFM documented the role of external actors (including states, transnational networks, and private intermediaries) in fueling the violence through mercenaries, weapons, ammunition, military technology, logistical support, and drones. Accountability must therefore extend beyond those conducting attacks to those enabling the war from outside Sudan.
Those documenting the truth are being targeted
At a time when facts matter most, those documenting the truth are being targeted. Human rights defenders (HRDs) inside Sudan remain vital sources of evidence for UN and African accountability mechanisms. Their work preserves testimony, exposes abuse, and keeps civilians visible.
For that reason, they have become targets. A forthcoming report by the Sudan Human Rights Defenders Coalition (SudanDefenders) documents 152 victims, 79 incidents, and 339 violations against HRDs, journalists, lawyers, humanitarian workers, health personnel, and Emergency Response Room volunteers between January and October 2026. The violations include hate speech, arbitrary detention, judicial harassment, threats, torture, and enforced disappearance. That should alarm anyone concerned with justice. When defenders are silenced, civic space shrinks, humanitarian response weakens, and impunity gains ground.
Why Resolution L.26 matters
Resolution L.26 keeps Sudan on the international agenda when fatigue and competing crises threaten to push it aside. It also strengthens cooperation between the UN-mandated FFM and the African Union-ACHPR mechanism, also called “Fact-Finding Mission,” building on the Banjul Joint Declaration adopted in May 2026. That cooperation must now become action: coordinated investigations, political backing, and sustained pressure on all parties to the conflict.
The ACHPR has a responsibility to lead
The ACHPR cannot treat Sudan as a distant crisis. At its 89th session, it should use its authority to reinforce regional efforts, defend the African Charter on Human and Peoples’ Rights (African Charter), and confront the actors fueling the conflict.
The message should be clear: African Union member states must uphold the African Charter and comply with regional and international law. The Sudanese authorities and all parties to the conflict must respect international humanitarian and human rights law. Civilians, including humanitarian workers, journalists, and human rights defenders, must be protected.
The ACHPR should demand an immediate end to retaliation against civil society actors, including human rights defenders, cooperating with accountability mechanisms. It should also press Sudanese authorities and all parties to cooperate fully with the Joint African Union-ACHPR Fact-Finding Mission and grant it unrestricted and safe access.
For Sudanese civilians, accountability is concrete. It is protection against repeated abuse and a foundation for any just peace. African Union member states should give the Fact-Finding Mission the political, logistical, and practical support it needs, and act on its findings. Sudan needs more expressions of concern. It needs action.
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Hassan Shire is the Executive Director, DefendDefenders
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