Geneva/Nairobi - Ten years after the United Nations Security Council unanimously adopted Resolution 2286 condemning attacks on medical facilities and personnel, violations affecting healthcare in Sudan remain widespread, systematic and devastating.
Since the outbreak of hostilities in April 2023, hospitals, clinics, ambulances, patients and health workers have been repeatedly struck, resulting in more than 2,000 civilian deaths and significantly undermining the right to health.
"Resolution 2286 reaffirmed that medical personnel, facilities and transport are protected under international humanitarian law and must be respected in armed conflicts, yet a decade on, the conflict in Sudan illustrates how the failure to ensure accountability has allowed attacks on medical workers to persist," said Radhouane Nouicer, the designated Expert on the human rights situation in Sudan.
According to the World Health Organization, there have been at least 217 attacks on healthcare facilities in Sudan since 15 April 2023.
"The prevalence of such attacks on healthcare facilities raises serious concerns about repeated breaches of international humanitarian law and directly undermine the right to health. Such acts may also amount to international crimes," said Dr. Tlaleng Mofokeng, UN Special Rapporteur on the Right to Health.
Many attacks have occurred in areas where civilians are already suffering from reduced access to health services, among other devastating consequences of the conflict.
On 20 March, air strikes on Ed Daein Teaching Hospital in East Darfur state killed at least 64 people, including 13 children and medical staff, forcing the only functioning hospital in the area out of service. On 2 April, a drone strike hit the Al-Jabalain Hospital in White Nile state, causing casualties among health workers and other civilians. In the first three months of this year, the UN Human Rights Office documented 12 aerial attacks - primarily drone strikes - affecting health facilities in Sudan.
Sudan's health system is on the brink of collapse. Across the country's 18 states, an estimated 37 per cent of health facilities are non-functional, leaving millions without access to basic health services. This situation has both immediate and long-term consequences," said Mofokeng. "The resulting lack of trauma care, maternal and child health services, and lack of treatment for chronic illness will result in preventable deaths and lasting harm to health systems and may amount to a grave violation of the right to the highest attainable standard of health".
The experts expressed concern over the arbitrary arrest and detention of medical personnel, which is further eroding access to care, in violation of international law. "Under international humanitarian law, health workers must be respected and protected in all circumstances," said Nouicer. "The detention and harassment of medical personnel for carrying out their professional duties contributes directly to denial of care, and places both health workers and civilians at further risk."
Ten years after resolution 2286, protection without accountability remains meaningless, the experts said, calling on the Security Council to take concrete action to protect health care.
They urged the international community to move beyond condemnation and take action to end attacks on health care, to protect health workers, and to uphold the right to the highest attainable standard of health.
