On the threat of war crimes, the escalating violations of international humanitarian law and the human rights situation in El-Obeid, Sudan

B100359/2026

European Parliament resolution on the threat of war crimes, the escalating violations of international humanitarian law and the human rights situation in El-Obeid, Sudan

(2026/2799(RSP))

having regard to Rule 150(5) of its Rules of Procedure,

whereas the conflict between the Sudan Armed Forces (SAF) and the Rapid Support Forces (RSF) has escalated into the most devastating humanitarian and displacement crisis in the world;

whereas over 33 million people require aid, 19 million face acute hunger, 13 million have been displaced, and hundreds of thousands are feared to have been killed;

whereas the RSF have laid a siege on El-Obeid; whereas since 6 June, the RSF have waged drone attacks in and around this city, killing civilians, and near-zero access to life-saving necessities; whereas the RSF are reportedly preparing an imminent ground offensive, risking mass atrocities;

whereas foreign actors fuel the conflict by providing military, financial and logistical support, violating of the UN arms embargo, with the United Arab Emirates (UAE) reportedly acting as the RSF’s main external enabler;

Urges the RSF and allied groups to lift the siege on El-Obeid;

Urges the warring parties to uphold international humanitarian law and commitments agreed upon under the Jeddah declaration, immediately end all attacks against civilians, including sexual violence as a weapon of war, ensure safe and unhindered humanitarian and commercial access, agree to and implement a nationwide ceasefire, cooperate with the deployment of an African Union-led protection force, and commit to a credible, inclusive political process for a civilian-led transition; calls for the EU to use all leverage to support these objectives;

Calls on the warring parties to cooperate with ongoing accountability efforts; calls for the EU to financially and politically support those mechanisms, and press for the expansion of the International Criminal Court’s (ICC) jurisdiction to international crimes committed in the whole of Sudan;

Condemns all forms of external interference fuelling the war; urges all countries, including the UAE, to respect the UN arms embargo, and end mercenaries recruitment and the provision of weapons and ammunition; calls for the EU to sanction violations of the arms embargo, raise them in all relevant bilateral frameworks, and work with the UN Security Council and others to expand the arms embargo to the whole of Sudan;

Calls for the EU to urgently increase resources for the humanitarian response in Sudan and the protection of local responders, as well as in refugee camps in neighbouring countries, including dedicated support for child protection and survivors of sexual violence;

Calls for the EU to engage RSF and their benefactors through direct diplomacy at the highest level; calls for the EU to impose targeted sanctions on entities and commanders responsible for serious human rights abuses, including RSF commanders responsible for current operations around El-Obeid;

Reiterates its call on the Council to urgently trigger the procedure to evaluate whether the RSF fulfils the criteria for inclusion on the EU’s restrictive ‘terrorist list’;

Instructs its President to forward this resolution to the Council, the Commission, the Government of Sudan, the African Union, the UN Secretary-General, the Sudanese authorities and the Pan-African Parliament.