Sudanese Alliance for Rights Condemns Rapid Support Forces’ Looting of Ambulance from Bashair Hospital

31 January 2025

The Sudanese Alliance for Rights (SAR) strongly condemns the looting of an ambulance from Bashair Hospital in South Khartoum by the Rapid Support Forces (RSF) at dawn on 31 January 2025. The ambulance, which had been providing critical emergency services, was forcibly seized at gunpoint by RSF personnel from the Al-Azhari sector, according to SAR’s follow-up reports.

The South Khartoum Emergency Room, a volunteer group, has held the RSF fully responsible for the incident, warning that unless the stolen ambulance is returned and those responsible are held accountable, they will suspend their services at Bashair Hospital.

This attack on civilian infrastructure, particularly healthcare facilities, severely impacts medical services, obstructing patients’ access to life-saving care and endangering the safety of hospital staff. Such actions violate international humanitarian law, including:

• The Fourth Geneva Convention and its Additional Protocols, which protect medical units and transport.
• Article 8(2)(e)(i) of the Rome Statute of the International Criminal Court, which classifies attacks on medical units and transport as war crimes.
• Customary International Humanitarian Law, which prohibits violence against medical personnel and facilities.

SAR calls for the immediate return of the ambulance, accountability for those responsible, and urgent measures to protect medical infrastructure. The deliberate targeting of healthcare services is unacceptable and must not be tolerated.

Sudanese Alliance for Rights (SAR)