G7 Foreign Ministers of Canada, France, Germany, Italy, Japan, the United Kingdom, the United States and the European Union have unequivocally condemned the continuing carnage in Sudan as the conflict clocks two years.
The minister in a statement to APA on Wednesday denounced atrocities and grave human rights violations and abuses since the beginning of the devastating war between the Sudanese Armed Forces (SAF) and the Rapid Support Forces (RSF).
”As a direct result of the actions of the SAF and the RSF, the people of Sudan, especially women and children, are enduring the world’s largest humanitarian and displacement crises, and continued atrocities, including widespread conflict-related sexual violence, ethnically motivated attacks and reprisal killings. These must end immediately” the statement said.
The RSF attacks in and around El Fasher on the Zamzam and Abu Shouk IDP camps, which have caused numerous casualties, including humanitarian workers drew strong condemnation from the G7 ministers who called on civilians to be protected and allowed safe passage from war zones.
As famine continues to spread across Sudan, G7 members said they are disturbed by reports of the use of starvation of civilians as a method of warfare and reiterated that such actions are prohibited under international humanitarian law.
”We call on the warring parties to uphold their obligations under international humanitarian law and their commitments under the Jeddah Declaration, which include the crucial responsibility to distinguish at all times between civilians and combatants and between civilian objects and military targets” their statement said.
They urged all parties to the conflict to lift impediments to effective crossline humanitarian assistance, provide assurances of safety and security for local and international humanitarian actors, and allow humanitarian access through all border crossings into Sudan, including through South Sudan and Chad.
Calling for an immediate and unconditional ceasefire, the G7 urged both the SAF and the RSF to engage meaningfully in serious, constructive negotiations where all external actors must cease any support that further fuels the conflict, in accordance with the Declaration of Principles adopted at the International Humanitarian Conference for Sudan and Neighbouring Countries in Paris in 2024 and the United Nations arms embargo on Darfur.
”For sustainable peace in Sudan, any resolution to the conflict must be rooted in the voices of Sudanese civilians. Women, youth, and civil society must be meaningfully included in all peace processes” the statement said.
While expressing support for the sovereignty, unity and territorial integrity of Sudan, the G7 members said they will remain committed to deepening collective diplomatic efforts to bring about an end to the world’s largest humanitarian crisis and secure an end to the conflict, including through the London Sudan Conference.
WN/as/APA