20 August 2026
Sudan: Extend the Fact-Finding Mission’s mandate and ensure adequate resources for
investigations and reporting
Excellencies,
Ahead of the UN Human Rights Council’s 63rd session (7 September-7 October 2026), we, the undersigned civil society organisations, write to urge your delegation to support a mandate extension for the Independent International Fact-Finding Mission (FFM) for the Sudan, in full, for two years. The next Council resolution on Sudan should ensure that the FFM has adequate resources to fulfil its mandate1 to investigate ongoing grave violations and abuses of international human rights law and violations of international humanitarian law and related crimes, collect and preserve evidence, and identify perpetrators with a view to ensuring that they are held accountable. It should request a written report on the findings of the FFM’s urgent inquiry into El Obeid, requested by Council resolution 62/1, as part of an effort to comprehensively report to UN bodies.
Additionally, the Council should strengthen the FFM’s capacity by providing it with adequate financial resources and expertise. It should consider ways to further enhance the FFM’s capacity, and that of the UN system, to support accountability efforts, including through the collection, consolidation and preservation of evidence on suspected perpetrators of crimes under international law. This should be part of a holistic approach to atrocity prevention and accountability.
Three years after its creation, the FFM remains a critical international mechanism with the mandate to independently investigate and report on violations committed throughout Sudan with a view to supporting accountability efforts, including by the International Criminal Court (ICC) and through cases before domestic courts, under the principle of universal jurisdiction. The Mission’s work is key to addressing the impunity that fuels grave violations and abuses in Sudan.
As the warring parties continue to show utter disregard for international humanitarian law, international human rights law, and their commitments under the Jeddah Declaration of Commitment to Protect the Civilians of Sudan, and as they remain “unwilling or unable to conduct genuine, thorough, prompt, and impartial investigations and prosecutions,”2 the FFM’s mandate remains indispensable. Its regular investigative reports and special inquiries also provide the international community with analysis and guidance to help prevent further atrocities, protect civilians, and advance accountability.
Over the past year, the Council has twice3 reaffirmed by consensus the value of the FFM’s investigations into international crimes committed in Sudan and has repeatedly stressed that accountability for grave abuses is central to any solution to the current crisis. It has also made a deliberate effort to build synergies with the African regional system and to fulfil its prevention mandate, including by taking swift action on the situation in and around El Obeid.4
The FFM should continue to strengthen cooperation with African regional human rights mechanisms, building on recent collaboration with the African Commission on Human and Peoples’ Rights (ACHPR) -led Joint Fact-Finding Mission. Enhanced coordination and information-sharing between these complementary mechanisms would reinforce African and international efforts to protect civilians, advance accountability.
