New York: Europe and the Arabs
The President of the Human Rights Council, Vaklak Balik, appointed three independent experts to form an international fact-finding mission on the situation in Sudan, headed by Tanzanian judge Mohamed Chandi Othman.
Monday's announcement came after the Human Rights Council established an independent fact-finding mission in a resolution in October "to investigate and establish the facts, circumstances and root causes of all allegations of human rights violations, abuses and violations of international humanitarian law - including those committed against refugees - and related crimes." “In the context of the ongoing armed conflict that began on 15 April 2023 between the Sudanese Armed Forces and the Rapid Support Forces, as well as other warring parties.”
The mission will collect and analyze evidence, identify individuals and entities responsible for these crimes and violations where possible, and make recommendations with the aim of ending impunity and ensuring accountability and access to justice for victims.
The committee includes the former President of the Supreme Court of Tanzania, Mohamed Chandi Othman, Professor Joy Esiello, the first lawyer in Nigeria and the former UN Special Rapporteur on trafficking in persons, and the former UN official, Mona Rishmawi - Jordanian-Swiss, who was head of the Office of the UN Special Envoy. For Syria.
It is noteworthy that the members of the mission will work in their personal capacity and will not receive salaries for their work. They are expected to present the mission's findings to the Human Rights Council between September and October, and to the General Assembly in October next year.