A United Nations backed human rights mission in Sudan on Friday called for an "independent and impartial" peacekeeping force to protect civilians who it suspects have been the victims of war crimes during the country's ongoing civil war.

In a 19-page report based on 182 interviews with survivors, family members and other witnesses, the investigators accused both the Sudanese Armed Forces (SAF) and the paramilitary Rapid Support Forces (RSF) of abuses including the torture, mutilation and murder of civilians.

Since April 2023, at least 18,800 people have lost their lives, according to the report, which accuses both sides and their allies of an "appalling level of shocking human rights abuses."

It also called for an international arms embargo on Sudan, warning that foreign governments which arm either side could be found complicit.

'Failure of warring parties to spare civilians'

"The gravity of these findings underscores the urgent and immediate need for action to protect civilians," said Mohamed Chande Othman, chair of the mission which was established by the UN Human Rights Council in October 2023, six months into Sudan's ongoing civil war.

"Given the failure of the warring parties to spare civilians, it is imperative that an independent and impartial force with a mandate to safeguard civilians be deployed without delay."

The report accused the paramilitary RSF in particular of ethnically motivated violence against non-Arab communities such as the Masalit people in West Darfur — including arbitrary killings, torture, rape and other forms of sexual violence, plus the destruction of property.

The RSF is suspected of forcing children younger than 15 into military service and employing slave labor.

Over 10 million people are believed to have fled to neighboring countries to escape the conflict between the warring generals Abdel Fattah al-Burhan (SAF) and Mohamed Hamdan Dagalo (RSF).

The situation in Sudan has been exacerbated by disastrous flooding, while humanitarian organizations have warned of the threat of starvation.

mf/nm (Reuters, AP, dpa)