Question to the Foreign, Commonwealth & Development Office:

To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Affairs, what steps he is taking to support (a) evidence-gathering, (b) accountability and (c) international justice processes in relation to allegations of breaches of international law in (i) the Ardamata area of El Geneina and (ii) in other areas of Sudan since 1 November 2023.

The UK condemns in the strongest terms increasing reports of atrocities being committed across Sudan, particularly in Darfur, and remains committed to ensuring those responsible for these heinous crimes are held to account. We are supporting the essential work of the Office for the High Commissioner for Human Rights in Sudan (OHCHR) and the International Criminal Court (ICC) in investigating and documenting the atrocities taking place in Sudan. The UK is funding the Centre for Information Resilience (CIR), a research body which is gathering open-source evidence about the ongoing fighting in Sudan; this financial year, we have provided £600,000 to CIR's Sudan Witness Project. The UK also initiated, alongside Germany, US and Norway, a resolution to establish an independent Fact-Finding Mission for Sudan; a resolution that was adopted by the UN Human Rights Council in October. This will support future accountability efforts in Sudan, including in relation to Darfur.