Hello, and thank you so much for being here this morning.
Late last week, the UN Panel of Experts issued a long-awaited report on Sudan. This is the final report. And I have it here. If you don’t have copies of it, we can certainly get it for you. And I think you will see that it’s very thorough – 52 pages of stomach-churning findings. Atrocity after atrocity after atrocity, laid out in horrifying detail.
Rather than summarize what’s in the report, I’m going to read a few sections that struck me. And all of these are direct quotes:
“Schools, hospitals, markets, government buildings and humanitarian assets were looted mostly by RSF and allied militias and destroyed by shelling and bombing by the two warring parties.”
“Women and girls, some as young as 14 years old, were raped by RSF elements in World Food Program storage facilities controlled by RSF.”
“RSF placed snipers on the main roads who indiscriminately targeted civilians, including women, pregnant women and young people.”
The report also includes gruesome photos, which if you look at the report, you will see. These were taken in West Darfur, where the RSF has targeted members of the Masalit community.