BOTH sides in Sudan’s conflict could be carrying out war crimes on medical facilities and staff, according to evidence seen by BBC News Arabic.
Hospitals have been hit by airstrikes and artillery fire while patients were still in the building and doctors have also been singled out for attack – all of which are potential war crimes.
Only a handful of the 88 hospitals in the capital, Khartoum, remain open after weeks of fighting, according to Sudan’s Doctors Union.
The BBC team used satellite data and mapping tools, analysed user-generated content on a huge scale, and spoke to dozens of doctors, to build a picture of how hospitals and clinics are being affected.
The World Health Organization (WHO) called the attacks “a flagrant violation of international humanitarian law” adding that they “must stop now”.
The fighting in Sudan began on 15 April and was triggered by a power struggle between former allies – the leaders of the regular army and the paramilitary Rapid Support Forces (RSF).
Khartoum’s Ibn Sina hospital is one of a number the BBC has identified as having been targeted in an airstrike or by artillery fire when medics were treating civilian patients.
Dr Alaa is a surgeon at the hospital and was present when the attack happened on 19 April.
“There wasn’t any warning. Ibn Sina hospital where I worked was hit by three bombs, while a fourth bomb hit the nurses’ house which was entirely set on fire,” he said.
Christian de Vos, an international criminal law expert with NGO Physicians for Human Rights, says this could be classed as a war crime.
“The duty to warn of any impending airstrike to ensure… that all civilians are able to evacuate a hospital prior to an airstrike – that is very clear under the laws of war,” he said.
Looking at the images of the attack, forensic weapons expert Chris Cobb-Smith said it could have been caused by artillery fire.
Uncertainty over the kind of weapon used means it is hard to be sure which side was responsible, or whether this was a targeted attack.
Another medical facility hit was the East Nile hospital – one of the last operating in that part of the capital.
The BBC has seen evidence of RSF fighters surrounding it with their vehicles and anti-aircraft weapons.
There have been reports of patients being forcibly evacuated from the building. But we have also spoken to witnesses who say civilians continued to be treated alongside the RSF soldiers.
On 1 May, a public area next to the East Nile hospital was hit by a Sudanese army airstrike. There was no warning, according to sources the BBC has spoken to.
Five civilians died in that attack.
