A view of the screen showing the result of a vote on a resolution regarding the Israeli military campaign in Gaza,
during the 55th session of the Human Rights Council, at the European headquarters of the United Nations in Geneva, Switzerland, on April 5, 2024.
| Photo Credit: AP

The United Nations’ (UN) top human rights body called on countries to stop selling or shipping weapons to Israel in a resolution passed on April 5 that aims to help prevent rights violations against Palestinians amid Israel’s blistering military campaign in Gaza.

The 47-member-country Human Rights Council voted 28-6 in favour of the resolution, with 13 abstentions.

The sweeping measure, which takes aim at an array of Israeli actions such as impeding access to water and limiting shipments of humanitarian aid into Palestinian areas, also calls on UN-backed independent investigators to report on shipments of weapons, munitions and “dual use” items — for both civilian and military purposes — that could be used by Israel against Palestinians. It is not binding.

Western countries were divided, with the U.S., Germany and others opposing the resolution, several abstaining and some European countries voting in favour. Israel — at times joined by the United States — has regularly and roundly criticised the council for its alleged anti-Israel bias.

The council has approved far more resolutions against Israel for its actions toward Palestinians over the years than against any other country.

The council is wrapping up its first session of the year, which began on February 26, with action on more than 40 resolutions on subjects as diverse as the rights of the child; the environment and human rights; genocide prevention; and rights situations in countries like Sudan, Belarus and North Korea.

The resolution comes amid a growing focus on weapons shipments to Israel — notably by its strongest backer, the United States — as Israel continues its military campaign in Gaza that has led to the killings of nearly 33,000 Palestinians that began in response to the attacks in Israel by armed militants on October 7.

In a sign of Washington’s growing impatience with Israel’s handling of the military campaign, U.S. President Joe Biden issued a stark warning to Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu on April 4 that future the U.S. support for Israel’s Gaza war depends on the swift implementation of new steps to protect civilians and aid workers.

That was the first time that Mr. Biden has threatened to rethink his backing if Israel doesn’t change its tactics and allow more humanitarian aid into Gaza.

The report found that at least 118 people had been subjected to sexual violence, including rape — with many of the assaults committed by members of the paramilitary forces, in homes and on the streets. File image for representation.
| Photo Credit: REUTERS

The UN human rights office said in a new report on Friday that scores of people, including children, have been subjected to rape and other forms of sexual violence in the ongoing conflict in Sudan, assaults that may amount to war crimes.

Sudan plunged into chaos in mid-April when clashes erupted in the capital, Khartoum, between rival Sudanese forces — the country’s military, led by Gen. Abdel Fattah Burhan, and a paramilitary faction known as the Rapid Support Forces, under the command of Gen. Mohammed Hamdan Dagalo.

The fighting quickly spread across the African country, especially urban areas but also the restive western Darfur region, and has so far killed at least 12,000 people and sent over 8 million fleeing their homes, the report said.

The report, which covers a period from the outbreak of the fighting up to December 15, documents abuses in a country that has been largely inaccessible to aid groups and rights monitors recently, clouding the impact of a conflict that been overshadowed by wars in places like Gaza and Ukraine.

The report found that at least 118 people had been subjected to sexual violence, including rape — with many of the assaults committed by members of the paramilitary forces, in homes and on the streets.

One woman, the UN said, “was held in a building and repeatedly gang-raped over a period of 35 days.” The report also pointed to recruitment of child soldiers on both sides of the conflict.

“Some of these violations would amount to war crimes,” said UN human rights chief Volker Türk, calling for prompt, thorough and independent investigations into alleged rights abuses and violations.

The report is based on interview of more than 300 victims and witnesses, some conducted in neighbouring Ethiopia and Chad where many Sudanese have fled, along with analysis of photographs, videos, and satellite imagery from the conflict areas.

The ravages of the war, beyond the period examined, are continuing, the UN said.

The UN cited video that emerged last week from the country’s North Kordofan State showing men wearing Sudanese army uniforms carrying severed heads of members of the rival paramilitary faction.

“For nearly a year now, accounts coming out of Sudan have been of death, suffering and despair, as the senseless conflict and human rights violations and abuses have persisted with no end in sight,” Mr. Türk said.

“The guns must be silenced, and civilians must be protected,” he added.

Speaking from Nairobi, Kenya, by videoconference to the UN briefing in Geneva on Friday, Seif Magango, a regional spokesman for the UN human rights office said that “the number of people displaced (in Sudan) has now crossed the 8 million mark, which should concern everyone.” Earlier in February, UN Secretary-General António Guterres told reporters that there is no military solution to Sudan’s conflict and urged the rival generals to start talking about ending the conflict.

He stressed that continued fighting “will not bring any solution so we must stop this as soon as possible.”-