Committee For Justice has documented the assassination of former Sudanese parliament member, Siham Hassan Hasaballah, who was killed in a direct attack carried out by the Rapid Support Forces (RSF) while she was in a neighborhood of El-Fasher, resulting in her immediate death. This shocking crime comes as part of an escalating pattern of systematic violence against women amid the ongoing armed conflict and widespread proliferation of weapons in Sudan. Field reports from El-Fasher indicate that RSF militias have conducted targeted killings of civilians, allegedly accusing them of collaborating with the Sudanese Armed Forces, marking yet another chapter in the bloody escalation witnessed in the city in recent days.
These acts constitute a serious violation of Sudan’s obligations under the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights (ICCPR) and the Convention on the Elimination of All Forms of Discrimination Against Women (CEDAW), as well as a breach of International Humanitarian Law, which strictly prohibits the targeting of civilians during armed conflicts. The continuation of such crimes amounts to serious human rights violations and may constitute war crimes under the Rome Statute of the International Criminal Court, which criminalizes deliberate killing and attacks against civilians.
In its concluding statement, Committee For Justice strongly condemns this heinous crime and calls on the international community, including the UN Human Rights Council and relevant UN mechanisms for the protection of women in armed conflicts, to take urgent action to halt these violations and ensure the protection of civilians in Sudan. The Committee reiterates its demand for an independent international investigation into this crime and other violations committed in El-Fasher, and for holding perpetrators accountable in line with Sudan’s international human rights obligations, to guarantee that those responsible do not enjoy impunity.
