The Sudanese Alliance for Rights (SAR) welcomes and strongly commends the report released by France 24’s Observers team on 29 November 2025, which offers the first public, independently analysed evidence confirming the use of chlorine gas as a chemical weapon in Sudan’s civil war. We recognise the exceptional thoroughness, courage, and professionalism demonstrated by the investigative team. Their work cuts through months of denial, fear, and misinformation, bringing long-awaited clarity to an issue that survivors and civil society actors have warned about since 2024. For years, Sudanese civilians, medical workers, and human rights defenders have reported symptoms consistent with chemical exposure. The findings of this report finally validate those testimonies and honour their courage.
The report documents chlorine gas attacks carried out in September 2024 around Khartoum, including near the Al Jaili oil refinery and the Garri military base. It includes geolocated videos showing yellow-green gas clouds, debris from industrial chlorine barrels typically used for water purification, and footage of aircraft believed to belong to the Sudanese Armed Forces (SAF). A panel of five independent chemical weapons experts reviewed the evidence and confirmed that the materials were consistent with chlorine gas being deployed from the air, a capability held only by the SAF. This makes the France 24 investigation the strongest and most credible documentation to date of chemical weapon use in the Sudan conflict.
These findings reaffirm the urgent need for an international investigation led by the Organisation for the Prohibition of Chemical Weapons (OPCW) into the use of chlorine gas and any other prohibited weapons in Sudan. They also highlight the need for strengthened protection for survivors, witnesses, journalists, and documentation teams who remain vulnerable to retaliation for speaking the truth. Equally important is the need for accountability for all perpetrators, regardless of rank or affiliation, and for sustained international attention at a time when chemical attacks must neither be normalised nor ignored.
The intentional use of chlorine, a chemical weapon banned under the Chemical Weapons Convention to which Sudan is a State Party, constitutes a war crime under international law. It represents not only a grave violation of global norms but a horrifying escalation in the suffering inflicted upon Sudanese civilians. As the war approaches its third year, this investigation serves as a powerful reminder that truth can still be uncovered, documented and acted upon. The suffering of the Sudanese people must no longer be met with silence or indifference.
We call on the United Nations Human Rights Council, the African Union, the OPCW and the broader international community to act with the urgency these findings demand and to take concrete steps toward justice, accountability and protection.
The Sudanese people deserve truth, dignity, and a future free from impunity. SAR stands ready to support all efforts that move our country closer to justice and peace.
Sudanese Alliance for Rights (SAR)
30 November 2025
