Peacekeepers needed to end ‘harrowing’ abuses in Sudan, say UN experts

Government and paramilitary forces responsible for rape, violence and torture, according to civilian interviews

Peacekeepers should be deployed to Sudan immediately and an existing international arms embargo should be expanded to protect civilians from harrowing" rights abuses committed by the warring parties in the country's civil war, UN experts said on Friday.

Sudan's army (SAF) and its rival, the paramilitary Rapid Support Forces [RSF], have raped and attacked civilians, used torture and made arbitrary arrests, according to a UN-mandated fact-finding mission based on 182 interviews with survivors, relatives and witnesses. The violations may amount to war crimes and crimes against humanity", its report said.