Question to the Foreign, Commonwealth & Development Office:

To ask the Minister of State, Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office, what diplomatic steps his Department is taking with the international community to hold parties in the Sudanese conflict accountable for any potential breaches of international law.

The UK condemns all human rights violations, including the shocking incidents of conflict-related sexual violence (CRSV) against women and girls in Sudan. We continue to denounce CRSV in Sudan and have raised our concerns in the UN Human Rights Council and Security Council, and as part of a joint statement made by the International Alliance on Preventing Sexual Violence in Conflict. The UK has enhanced its atrocity risk monitoring, including monitoring of conflict-related sexual violence. The Human Rights Council adopted the UK-led 'Sudan Core Group' Fact-Finding Mission (FFM) in October, which will ensure that credible allegations of human rights violations and abuses, including CRSV, by all sides will be investigated impartially by experts in their field to support future accountability efforts. The HRC Presidency has begun the selection process for the three experts that will make up the FFM. The UK continue to support the Office for the High Commissioner for Human Rights and other UN partners working with Sudan's Combating Violence Against Women Unit. We call on both sides to abide by their responsibilities under International Humanitarian Law to protect civilians.