The Nuba Mountains in Sudan have been beset by conflict since June 2011. Although the main fighting parties are the Sudanese government and opposition rebel group the SPLM-N, the primary targets of the war are civilians. The Sudanese regime bombs the area on a daily basis, indiscriminately hitting homes, schools and hospitals. Figures from the ground are hard to source, but Nuba Reports documents that 3,740 bombs, including cluster munitions, have been dropped on civilian targets since April 2012. The people of the Nuba Mountains are being blown to pieces and burned alive. Survivors cannot regularly tend to the land for fear of the unmistakable drone of the Antonov cargo planes, and so they starve.

So far the United Nations has failed to act. We want you to establish a Security Council resolution taking practical steps to stop killing in the Nuba. This should include:

1. A call for an immediate ceasefire and an end to aerial bombardment in the Nuba Mountains, including an arms embargo on the conflict zone;
2. Establishing a UN mission for the Nuba Mountains, with full Chapter VII mandate;
3. Implementing a Zones of Peace strategy in selected areas of the Nuba Mountains, to ensure civilians’ safety and access to humanitarian aid and other vital services;
4. Steps to deliver Sudanese President Omar Al-Bashir and other officials to the International Criminal Court where they have been indicted, and referring the case of the Nuba Mountains to the Court for new investigations;
5. Imposing effective types of sanctions, like travel bans and asset freezes, against key Sudanese government officials and also other individuals responsible for blocking the delivery of humanitarian aid.

Without these measures, also needed in other conflict-ridden areas of Sudan like the country’s Blue Nile state, thousands more in the Nuba Mountains will die or be permanently disfigured by Sudan’s bombs. We urge you to take the steps you can to stop killing in the Nuba.