SPLM–N Statement on the Use of Chemical Weapons in the Sudan Conflict.

The Sudan People’s Liberation Movement – North (SPLM–N) addresses regional and international stakeholders, including the United Nations, international organizations, and State Parties to multilateral conventions. Anchored in the principles of the “New Sudan” and its long experience confronting entrenched central military rule, the SPLM–N presents documented evidence of grave violations committed by the Sudanese regime, including the use of chemical and other internationally prohibited weapons. These violations threaten civilians, undermine peace, and contravene core norms of international humanitarian law.

1. Structural Violence in the Sudanese State

Since independence, Sudan has been governed by regimes that have institutionalized a dual logic: a “useful Sudan,” whose populations are deemed worthy of protection, and a “disposable Sudan,” whose peoples may be marginalized or sacrificed. Whether under political Islam or traditional military authority, central elites have historically regarded areas such as the former South, Darfur, the Nuba Mountains, Blue Nile, and peripheral urban communities as obstacles to their political project.

This has led to decades of wars premised on criminalizing entire communities. Populations from these regions were labeled “rebels,” stripped of their civic identity, and subjected to ruthless counterinsurgency strategies. Whenever its authority was challenged, the Sudanese state repeatedly resorted to extreme and prohibited means, including mass violence and forced displacement.

2. Chemical Weapons: From Denial to Evidence

The SPLM–N notes that the use of chemical weapons is neither rumor nor propaganda. In 2016, Amnesty International documented chemical attacks in Jebel Marra, resulting in hundreds of injuries, predominantly among women and children. The Sudanese government rejected an independent investigation, denied responsibility, and refused transparency—patterns commonly seen in regimes facing credible atrocity allegations.

In 2024, during the current conflict that began in April 2023, the United States government formally concluded—under its obligations to the Chemical Weapons Convention—that the Sudanese Armed Forces deployed chemical agents against both civilians and military opponents. This finding triggered sanctions and diplomatic pressure, including calls at the United Nations for Sudan to admit wrongdoing and allow an impartial investigation.

The Sudanese regime’s systematic denial and rejection of investigative mechanisms signal an intention to prolong the war and maintain collective punishment against marginalized communities.

3. Legal and Ethical Accountability

Sudan is a party to the 1993 Chemical Weapons Convention, which categorically prohibits developing, stockpiling, transferring, or using chemical weapons in any circumstances. Their use is therefore a grave breach of treaty obligations.

Under international humanitarian law, the use of poisonous or asphyxiating gases constitutes a war crime, especially when employed against civilians or in systematic attacks. Chemical weapons are not tools of combat—they are instruments of extermination. Deploying them against one’s own population signals a collapse of moral legitimacy and disqualifies any government from leading a peace process or claiming sovereign credibility.

4. The Politics of Denial and Blocked Pathways to Peace

The SPLM–N asserts that Sudan’s current authorities obstruct all independent inquiries. They oppose engagement with the OPCW, the UN, and independent civil society mechanisms, instead promoting a militarized nationalist narrative that portrays scrutiny as foreign aggression. In doing so, they attempt to delegitimize accountability while demanding international recognition as a sovereign government.

Such behavior rejects a peace grounded in equal citizenship, decentralization, and historical justice. It reproduces the logic of military dictatorship: peace is framed as the preservation of the center at the expense of the periphery, and the concept of “nation” is subordinated to the institution of the army.

5. Foundations of a Just and Sustainable Peace

The SPLM–N stresses that peace cannot rest on temporary ceasefires or partial political deals that postpone the root causes of conflict. Instead, peace must address systemic marginalization, central concentration of power, and the militarized governance that has defined modern Sudan. The movement’s vision centers on equal citizenship, dignity, and the prevention of further cycles of violence.

In this framework, investigation into chemical weapons use is neither punitive nor an attempt to weaken one party. Rather, it is a moral and legal safeguard to protect society and prevent repetition. Without accountability, peace efforts reproduce impunity and perpetuate state violence.

Independent investigation:

Protects civilians, reaffirming the inviolability of human life.

Restores dignity to victims and marginalized groups, especially in regions historically targeted by state violence.

Rebuilds trust, ensuring the future of the Sudanese state is anchored in the rule of law rather than military dominance.

Aligns with international precedents, demonstrating that sustainable peace is inseparable from truth and justice.

The SPLM–N underscores that it does not reject dialogue or political solutions. Instead, it rejects settlements that trivialize mass atrocities or trade justice for political expediency. Independent investigation is not an obstacle to peace; it is the means by which peace can transcend militarized logic and build a society in which state legitimacy rests on its ability to safeguard citizens.

6. Call to the International Community

The movement urges the UN, the OPCW, and partner states to adopt concrete measures:

Launch a full OPCW investigation with challenge inspection authority and unfettered access to relevant sites and records.

Create a specialized UN commission to investigate chemical weapons use, with protections for witnesses and comprehensive evidence collection.

Impose targeted sanctions on institutions refusing cooperation, including financial restrictions, travel bans, and suspension of military support.

Refer the case to the International Criminal Court once initial technical evidence is verified, recognizing that chemical weapons constitute prosecutable war crimes.

Expand protections for civilians, ensure independent humanitarian access, and establish international monitoring insulated from coercive state structures.

7. A Peace Beyond the Logic of War

The SPLM–N concludes that genuine peace is neither the victory of one faction nor the defeat of another. Peace is realized when war ceases to be the architecture of the Sudanese state. It acknowledges suffering, recognizes victims, and repudiates exclusionary governance.

Building a stable Sudan requires dismantling systems that treat peripheral populations as expendable, and adopting governance rooted in equal citizenship, secular institutions, decentralization, and historical justice. A just state does not sacrifice its citizens—it protects them and embraces diversity as a foundation of national strength.

Silence in the face of grave crimes is not neutrality but complicity. The international community must stand with human dignity and accountability, not with a government that deploys prohibited weapons against its own people and then seeks international legitimacy.

The SPLM–N presents peace as both a national and ethical choice: one that places life above power, justice above cosmetic reconciliation, and restores the meaning of the Sudanese state as a political community built on citizenship and human worth—not domination.