Foreign Minister Did Not Withdraw from Human Rights Council Session… Sudan Maintains Its Position on the Fact-Finding Committee

Sources close to the meetings of the UN Human Rights Council, currently being held in Geneva, denied reports that Sudanese Foreign Minister, Mohi El-Din Salem, withdrew from the Council session on Friday and left the hall before the conclusion of the official discussions concerning the situation in Sudan.

The sources added that the minister left the session due to a prior appointment with the High Commissioner for Human Rights, who also left at the same time. They confirmed that the head of the fact-finding mission was not present at the session and that the deputy head of the mission delivered its statement.

At the same time, sources reiterated Sudan’s position on the fact-finding mission, noting that the Human Rights Council has other mechanisms besides this mission, whose approach has not changed. It continues to speak of two sides and equates the Sudanese Armed Forces and the Rapid Support Forces militia in committing violations.

The sources added that Sudan’s position on the fact-finding mission is firm and will not change, based on its conviction that it has sufficient national human rights mechanisms. They emphasized that the Sudanese government’s rejection of the mission does not mean it will boycott the session during which the mission’s statement is read, or withdraw from it, as has been rumored.

The sources explained that the majority of member states of the Human Rights Council adopt positions supportive of Sudan and its government, and consider the Rapid Support Forces militia to be a “criminal gang” that has committed numerous violations in the country.

Reports circulated that Sudanese Foreign Minister Mohi El-Din Salem stormed out of a Human Rights Council session, accompanied by the Sudanese ambassador and the entire official delegation, in a diplomatic move described as surprising. It was said to have been in response to a statement by the head of the Council’s fact-finding mission, who accused the Sudanese Armed Forces of committing crimes against civilians based on reports from various sources. The Sudanese government viewed this as reflecting its complete rejection of what it described as bias and unacceptable interference in its internal affairs.

However, sources denied this account, asserting that the minister’s departure was related to his official engagements on the sidelines of the Council’s proceedings, specifically a meeting with the High Commissioner for Human Rights, and was not a protest against the session’s proceedings or the fact-finding mission’s statement.