Joint oral statement to Human Rights Council on Sudan

Sudan

The statement reads as follows:

Lawyers for Lawyers, the International Bar Association’s Human Rights Institute and Lawyers’ Rights Watch Canada thank the High Commissioner and the Fact-Finding Mission for their work and reporting on the situation in Sudan.

We share the Commissioner’s concerns about reports of mass arbitrary arrests of lawyers and their specific targeting throughout the conflict. We are alarmed by the reported perceived link between the arbitrary targeting of lawyers and the prominent role lawyers previously played in the 2018-2019 revolution and unification.

 There are numerous reports of lawyers being disappeared across the country by the military intelligence and Rapid Support Forces, of lawyers being arbitrarily killed, and lawyers being sentenced to life imprisonment, or served with the death penalty, because of their status or work. On top of these individual attacks, around 500 lawyers’ offices have been arbitrarily raided and looted by the Rapid Support Forces since 2023.

Moreover, we are concerned by the use of military courts and emergency laws to try these lawyers, in light of the lack of transparency surrounding such proceedings, and the absence of an official bar association in Sudan.

The recourse to such practices violates the UN Basic Principles on the Role of Lawyers, which underline lawyers’ vital role in ensuring access to justice for all.

We call on the Council to respond robustly to the ever-worsening situation in Sudan and to extend the Fact-Finding Mission in Sudan’s mandate to effectively include and report on the situation of lawyers. We further urge this Council to ensure the Fact-Finding Mission may continue its work in Sudan effectively and comprehensively.

Find the PDF here.