Genocide Risk in Sudan: 'civilians are far from protected' | United Nations Security Council

Briefing by Alice Wairimu Nderitu, Under-Secretary-General, Special Advisor to the Secretary-General on the Prevention of Genocide, on the protection of civilians in armed conflict, during the 9632nd meeting of the Security Council.

The Council held its annual open debate on the protection of civilians (PoC) in armed conflict, as 2024 marks the 75th anniversary of the 1949 Geneva Conventions and the 25th anniversary of resolution 1265 of 17 September 1999, which first established PoC as a matter of international peace and security and introduced it as an item on the Council’s agenda.

The Special Adviser of the Secretary-General on the Prevention of Genocide Alice Wairimu Nderitu raised an “alarm” about the situation in Sudan, telling the Council that it “bears all the marks of risk of genocide, with strong allegations that is crime has already been committed.”

Nderitu said, “civilians are far from protected. Civilian populations are targeted on the basis of identity. In Darfur and El Fasher, civilians have been attacked and killed because of the colour of their skin, because of their ethnicity, because of who they are.”