The bodies of at least 87 people believed to have been killed last month in Sudan by paramilitary forces and their allies have been buried in a mass grave in Darfur, the UN reported on Thursday (July 13th). According to credible information collected by the Office of the High Commissioner for Human Rights, these people were killed between 13 and 21 June in the districts of Al-Madaress and Al-Jamarek in Al-Geneina, the capital. of West Darfur State. Among those killed are members of the Masalit ethnic group, according to the UN statement.
The conflict in Sudan has pitted the army, led by General Abdel Fattah Al-Burhan, against the paramilitaries of the Rapid Support Forces (FSR) of General Mohammed Hamdan Daglo since April 15. Once allies, the two generals are now vying for power, which they seem determined to obtain by force.
“Protect Dignity”
It was on the orders of the paramilitaries that the local population was forced to deposit the bodies in the mass grave, specifies the UN. High Commissioner for Human Rights Volker Türk “condemns in the strongest terms the killing of civilians and non-combatants” and says he is “appalled” by the lack of respect given to the dead, their families and communities. It calls for “a prompt, thorough and independent investigation” and that those responsible be brought to justice.
According to the UN, those killed include “many victims of the violence that followed the assassination of West Darfur Governor Khamis Abdallah Abakar on June 14, shortly after he was arrested by the RSF.” . After the violence, many bodies were left in the streets for several days, and witnesses told the High Commission that the injured were not allowed to be evacuated to hospitals. Some people died because they could not be treated.
The High Commissioner calls on the paramilitaries to “protect the dignity” of the dead and to document – ??or allow aid workers to do so – all available information to identify them and return their remains to their families. It further calls on paramilitary leaders “to end violence and hate speech against people based on their ethnicity”.
