Rhino: Follow-up – The Darfur Initiative for Justice and Peace have affirmed its categorical rejection of the use of indiscriminate and lethal chemical weapons in war, stating that their use constitutes a flagrant violation of international treaties and conventions, as well as war crimes and crimes against humanity. In a statement issued today, the Initiative called on the international community, the UN Security Council, and the International Criminal Court (ICC) to include the issue of chemical weapons and toxic substances in the ongoing investigations into war crimes and crimes against humanity in Sudan.
It also called for the prosecution of those responsible and those involved in ordering or planning these attacks, the imposition of further individual and collective sanctions against all military personnel and civilians implicated in this crime, and the extension of the International Criminal Court’s jurisdiction to cover all Sudanese territory, while tightening the ban on the supply of weapons and dual-use materials and imposing strict international controls to prevent the flow of chemical substances and military equipment, and ensuring that commercial shipments or medical and humanitarian aid provided by United Nations and international organizations are not diverted from their civilian purposes.
The statement emphasized the need to dispatch an urgent fact-finding mission from the Organization for the Prohibition of Chemical Weapons (OPCW), and to activate mechanisms for immediate and independent investigation, as well as to dispatch an impartial fact-finding mission to collect field evidence and environmental and medical samples to verify the allegations contained in the report and hold Sudan accountable as a State Party to the Convention.
The statement called on the Sudanese military to immediately cease the use of prohibited and indiscriminate weapons, and we also demand that the leadership of the Sudanese Armed Forces and the militias allied with it completely and unconditionally cease the production, stockpiling, or use of chemical weapons, as well as indiscriminate aerial and heavy artillery bombardment of populated areas, and to facilitate access for humanitarian and medical teams and open safe, unimpeded corridors to enable the World Health Organization, humanitarian organizations, and medical personnel to be present in areas suspected of exposure to toxic substances, to treat any cases of poisoning, and to provide the necessary medical care to victims.
The statement read: (We call on civil society partners and human rights organizations to document testimonies and protect witnesses, This serves as a call to all human rights activists, journalists, and medical and field personnel to document any testimonies, symptoms, or evidence related to chemical poisoning, while ensuring full protection for whistleblowers, witnesses, and survivors, and holding the army leadership accountable for disclosing its stockpiles of chemical weapons and for safely destroying and disposing of them).
He continued: (The de facto authority in Port Sudan must close off and cordon off all areas where chemical weapons have been used, and prohibit the presence of citizens, animals, foodstuffs, and other items there, in order to spare citizens the risk of death and protect their lives from this deadly, lethal chemical agent. Justice is the cornerstone of any just and sustainable peace, and stability in Sudan cannot be achieved amid impunity and the continued use of internationally prohibited weapons as instruments of war).
The initiative considered that the use of or preparation to use chemical weapons constitutes a grave violation of international humanitarian law and the Chemical Weapons Convention (CWC), as well as a moral and humanitarian decline that exposes the lives of millions of Sudanese civilians to the risk of suffocating death and exacerbates the catastrophic humanitarian suffering experienced by the Sudanese people in general, particularly in the Darfur region and adjacent areas.
He continued: (The de facto authority in Port Sudan must close off and cordon off all areas where chemical weapons have been used, and prohibit the presence of citizens, animals, foodstuffs, and other items there, in order to spare citizens, the risk of death and protect their lives from this deadly, lethal chemical agent. Justice is the cornerstone of any just and sustainable peace, and stability in Sudan cannot be achieved amid impunity and the continued use of internationally prohibited weapons as instruments of war).
The initiative considered that the use of or preparation to use chemical weapons constitutes a grave violation of international humanitarian law and the Chemical Weapons Convention (CWC), as well as a moral and humanitarian decline that exposes the lives of millions of Sudanese civilians to the risk of suffocating death and exacerbates the catastrophic humanitarian suffering experienced by the Sudanese people in general, particularly in the Darfur region and adjacent areas.
A report by (The Washington Post) and (The New York Times) revealed conclusively, with irrefutable evidence, that the Sudanese army manufactured 300 chemical munitions under the personal supervision of intelligence officer Tariq Hussein. The report also indicated that all of this took place with the knowledge and under direct orders from Lieutenant General Al-Burhan, who ordered the destruction of evidence, The report detailed all stages of chemical weapons production and the army’s establishment of a secret program to produce and store munitions loaded with chlorine gas, supported by documented evidence from 150 documents, thousands of messages, audio recordings, photos, and videos retrieved from the phones of Sudanese army officers.
