“Strong Response from the Sudanese Military Capabilities Platform to Human Rights Watch Report: Fabricated Accusations and Rejected Politicization”
Statement Issued by the Sudanese Military Capabilities Platform
In Response to the Human Rights Watch Report on “War Crimes”
The Sudanese Military Capabilities Platform expresses its deep astonishment and outright rejection of the recent report issued by Human Rights Watch, which leveled serious accusations against the Sudanese Armed Forces. These claims violate legal and professional norms, and the organization has overstepped its mandate by engaging in judicial judgments that fall outside the purview of any unofficial human rights entity.
The Platform reminds Human Rights Watch that it is neither a judicial body nor an international authority authorized to classify or confirm international crimes such as “war crimes.” It does not and has never held the mandate to issue conclusive judgments without reliance on an independent and impartial international investigation conducted under the supervision of the United Nations or the International Criminal Court, from which such legal terminology can be legitimately derived.
The organization’s biased legal characterization represents a blatant violation of the principle of presumption of innocence and reveals a fundamental flaw in the report’s methodology and intent.
The organization deliberately ignored the official account of the Sudanese Armed Forces and overlooked the reality that the Armed Forces are engaged in a defensive battle against a rebel militia that has used civilians as human shields, embedded itself within residential areas since the beginning of the war, and carried out drone attacks on IDP camps, fuel stations, warehouses, power stations, and civilian airports—in addition to committing kidnappings and assassinations with impunity. This failure to present a balanced narrative and the reliance on one-sided, selective sources severely undermines the credibility of the report and renders it closer to a biased political statement than a professional human rights assessment.
Even more troubling is the report’s omission of unprecedented and destructive weapons used by the Rapid Support Forces (RSF), including thermobaric bombs, incendiary thermal missiles that destroy internal organs, and the use of incendiary C4 compounds. Furthermore, RSF has systematically combined amorphous white phosphorus munitions with thermobaric bombs to create a dual-destructive effect that mimics the devastation of white phosphorus. This deliberate and unbalanced omission amounts to implicit complicity in concealing the true war crimes committed against civilians.
This report comes at an extremely sensitive political juncture and, in content, implicitly aligns with a rebel faction responsible for well-documented massacres against civilians in Darfur, Kordofan, Khartoum, and Al-Jazira. The exclusive targeting of the national army while ignoring the horrific violations committed by the RSF raises serious questions about the organization’s motives and its regional and international agendas, as well as its overreach into legal domains.
Moreover, using legal terms of such magnitude as “war crimes” without a legitimate legal process undermines the essence of international law, distorts the principle of international justice, and sets a dangerous precedent in politicizing human rights issues and turning them into tools of media and political pressure.
The Sudanese Military Capabilities Platform affirms that this report lacks professionalism and neutrality and exceeds the ethical and legal mandate granted to non-governmental organizations.
Holding Human Rights Watch accountable for overstepping its legal bounds is essential to restoring faith in the principle of international justice.
The Sudanese Armed Forces remain fully committed to international humanitarian law and exert maximum effort to avoid civilian harm—despite the enemy’s deliberate use of civilians as shields in combat zones.
Issued by:
Sudanese Military Capabilities Platform
Date: June 5, 2025
