Khartoum – Sudan Now | May 11, 2026
«Emergency Lawyers» affirmed that criminal responsibility for serious human rights violations remains applicable to military commanders who move between parties to the conflict, stressing that changing military affiliation or leadership position does not grant immunity from legal prosecution.
The group said in a statement issued on Sunday that individual criminal responsibility is linked to the act committed at the time it occurred and is not nullified by subsequent shifts within the conflict or repositioning among different military formations.
The statement added that accountability also extends to commanders who knew, or should have known, about the violations and failed to take measures to prevent them or hold the perpetrators accountable, referring to the principle of “command responsibility” under international humanitarian law.
The group considered the reintegration of individuals accused of committing serious violations into other military formations a threat to the principle of ending impunity and a setback to victims’ rights.
«Emergency Lawyers» also called on the United Nations Independent International Fact-Finding Mission for the Sudan to continue documenting violations and linking them to actual chains of command “without selectivity or exception,” with a focus on cases involving commanders moving between parties to the war.
The group also called on the International Criminal Court to open “serious and comprehensive investigations” into violations linked to the war in Sudan and to take practical steps to ensure that shifts in military positions do not become a means of evading justice.
Since the outbreak of the ongoing war in Sudan in April 2023, several commanders and fighters have defected or shifted between parties to the conflict, amid growing legal and human rights debates over the responsibility of military leaders for violations committed during the war, including extrajudicial killings, violence against civilians, and forced displacement.
