Statement by Permanent Representative of Slovenia to the United Nations Samuel Žbogar at the UNSC meeting on the Reports of the Secretary-General on the Sudan and South Sudan

Thank you Mr. President.

I also want to thank today’s briefers. Their testimonies confirm what we had all feared and what humanitarian voices have being warning us for almost two years. Yes, we were afraid that this was happening.

What began as a siege over 500 days ago has become a massacre. Once a fragile haven for hundreds of thousands, El Fasher is now the epicenter of Sudan’s agony – a city starved, silenced, and brutally assaulted, facing famine-like conditions, a collapsed health system, and no safe way out.

I want to make 3 points:

First – Slovenia strongly, in the strongest terms condemns the reported atrocities committed by the RSF in El Fasher and Bara City.

This is not the chaos of battle but the deliberate targeting of life itself – summary executions of civilians, people attacked solely for their ethnicity, and hospitals turned into killing grounds. The assault on the Saudi Maternity Hospital, where hundreds were reportedly killed, stands as a horrific symbol of this moral collapse.

This is outrageous. We are witnessing a rerun of Darfur 2005. And we agree with the briefers that a robust action is needed. The Security Council has to react decisively and firmly to these atrocities.

Even in war, there are rules. International humanitarian law must be upheld, by all and at all times. Civilians must be granted safe passage out of El Fasher, and humanitarian assistance must reach those whose survival now hangs by a thread.

Second – This war is not self-sustaining; it is fueled from beyond Sudan’s borders by the continuous flow of weapons, resources and support.

We urge, no, we demand from all States of this Organization to refrain from any action that prolongs the violence and to uphold this Council’s arms embargo.

We call on States with direct influence – regional and international – to press for an immediate end to massacres in El Fasher, for cessation of hostilities, for safe and unhindered humanitarian access to all areas, including to Tawila, and to bring the parties to dialogue.

Slovenia supports all meaningful efforts towards peace. We stand behind regional and international mediation efforts, including those led by the AU and the Secretary-General’s Personal Envoy. We place renewed hope in Quad efforts. We urge the Sudanese Armed Forces and the Rapid Support Forces to choose dialogue over destruction. And let us repeat – there is no military solution to this conflict. After more than 900 days of war, further delay is indefensible.

Third – Accountability cannot be an afterthought. There can be no peace without accountability, and no true ceasefire that ignores the crimes we are witnessing in El Fasher these days. The weaponization of starvation, the use of sexual violence as a tool of war, and the targeting of individuals based on ethnicity are deliberate crimes.

Those who commit, those who command and those who arm and enable such atrocities must face justice. Impunity has been the fuel of Sudan’s agony, justice must become its turning point.

Mr. President, in conclusion,

I wish to take a moment to pay tribute to Sudanese civil society and humanitarian responders. It is difficult to find words that capture the magnitude of their sacrifice. Where international actors have been denied access, local responders – including the Emergency Response Rooms – have become the lifeline of countless communities.

Many of those delivering aid in Sudan do so without recognition, without resources, and without protection. Too many have paid the ultimate price, even in recent days. We honour their memory. Their courage must not be met with silence, nor their sacrifice with indifference. Humanitarians must never be targets.

I thank you.

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