Ahead of the 63rd session of the UN Human Rights Council, the International Commission of Jurists (ICJ), together with close to 70 civil society organizations, has called on UN Member States to extend the mandate of the Independent International Fact-Finding Mission for the Sudan (FFM) for two years and ensure that it has adequate resources to carry out its investigations and reporting.
The joint letter highlights the continuing grave violations of international human rights law and international humanitarian law committed in the context of the conflict in Sudan, which began in 2023. Against this backdrop, the organizations stress that the FFM remains a critical international mechanism for documenting violations, collecting and preserving evidence, identifying perpetrators and supporting efforts to ensure accountability.
The organizations call on the Human Rights Council to provide the FFM with the financial resources, expertise, and institutional support necessary to fully implement its mandate. This includes enabling the Mission to investigate ongoing violations, preserve evidence, and identify those responsible for international crimes with a view to ensuring that they can be held accountable.
The letter also calls for the FFM to report on the findings of its urgent inquiry into violations allegedly committed in and around El Obeid, requested by the Human Rights Council in July 2026. The organizations stress that this reporting is particularly important as part of broader efforts to prevent further atrocities and strengthen accountability in Sudan.
The signatories also call for stronger coordination between the FFM and African regional human rights mechanisms, building on recent cooperation with the African Commission on Human and Peoples’ Rights-led Joint Fact-Finding Mission. Enhanced coordination and information-sharing, they argue, can reinforce international and regional efforts to protect civilians, advance accountability and contribute to sustainable peace.
The joint letter further emphasizes the need for a comprehensive approach to atrocity prevention and accountability, including addressing the role of external actors supporting the parties to the conflict and ensuring that those responsible for violations can ultimately be brought to justice.
For the ICJ, strengthening independent international investigations and accountability mechanisms is essential in contexts where national authorities are unwilling or unable to conduct genuine, thorough, prompt and impartial investigations and prosecutions.
The organizations urge the Human Rights Council to maintain its engagement on Sudan and to make clear that accountability must remain central to efforts to address the conflict and prevent further violations.
The ICJ and the other signatories call on States to support a full two-year extension of the FFM’s mandate and to ensure that the Mission has the resources necessary to carry out its vital work.
Sincerely,
- African Centre for Democracy and Human Rights (ACDHRS)
- African Centre for Justice and Peace Studies (ACJPS)
- AfricanDefenders (Pan-African Human Rights Defenders Network)
- Africans for the Horn of Africa
- Al Jazeera Observatory for Human Rights
- Al Khatim Adlan Centre for Enlightenment and Human Development (KACE)
- Amnesty International
- Atrocities Watch Africa
- AWAFY Sudanese Organization
- Bazza for Development, Humanitarian Service and Peacebuilding Organization (BDHSPO)
- Burundian Human Rights Defenders Coalition (CBDDH)
- Cairo Institute for Human Rights Studies (CIHRS)
- Central Observatory for Human Rights (COHR Sudan)
- Centre for Human Rights and Rehabilitation (CHRR) – Malawi
- Chaka for Peace and Justice
- CIVICUS
- Committee to Protect Journalists (CPJ)
- CSW (Christian Solidarity Worldwide)
- Darfur Victims Support Organization
- Darfur Women Action Group
- December Foundation
- DefendDefenders (East and Horn of Africa Human Rights Defenders Project)
- Egyptian Initiative for Personal Rights (EIPR)
- Every Casualty Counts
- Global Centre for the Responsibility to Protect (GCR2P)
- Global Rights Compliance
- Governance Programming Overseas (GPO) UK
- Hawai’i Institute for Human Rights
- Human Rights Defenders Coalition (HRDC) – Malawi
- Human Rights and Development Organization (HUDO Centre)
- Human Rights Forum – Sudan
- Human Rights Watch
- Institut des Médias pour la Démocratie et les Droits de l’Homme (IM2DH) – Togo
- International Commission of Jurists (ICJ)
- International Federation for Human Rights (FIDH)
- International Press Institute (IPI)
- International Service for Human Rights (ISHR)
- The International Bar Association’s Human Rights Institute (IBAHRI)
- Journalists for Human Rights (JHR) – Sudan
- Kaja Organization for Peace and Development (KPD)
- Kayn for Women Empowerment Organization
- The Kenyan Section of the International Commission of Jurists (ICJ-Kenya)
- Lawyers for Justice Sudan
- Lawyers’ Rights Watch Canada
- MIR Italy (Italian branch of the International Fellowship of Reconciliation)
- Mouvement contre le Racisme et pour l’Amitié entre les Peuples (MRAP)
- Nubian Center for Peace and Democracy (NCPD)
- PAEMA (Preventing and Ending Mass Atrocities)
- PAX
- The Reckoning Project (TRP)
- REDRESS
- Regional Centre for Training and Development of Civil Society (RCDCS) – Sudan
- Rights Bridge Africa
- SIHA Network
- Sudanese Network for Development and Democracy (SND)
- Sudanese Organization for Justice and Human Rights
- Sudanese Women Rights Action
- Sudan Human Rights Defenders Coalition (SudanDefenders)
- Sudan Human Rights Hub (SHRH)
- Sudan Knowledge Centre (SKC)
- Sudan Peace Call (SPC)
- Sudan Rights Watch Network
- Sudan Unlimited
- Togolese Human Rights Defenders Coalition (CTDDH)
- Voice of Victims Newspaper
- West African Human Rights Defenders Network (ROADDH/WAHRDN)
- Women of Change Organization (WCO)
- Youth Citizens Observers Network (YCON Sudan)
Download the full letter
- English (PDF version)
- Français (version PDF)
