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A new United Nations report accused both sides of the military conflict in Sudan of committing war crimes, calling for prompt, transparent and impartial investigations into these violations and bringing those responsible to trial.
Today, Friday, the Office of the United Nations High Commissioner for Human Rights issued a detailed report reviewing violations and abuses that it described as “horrific” committed by both sides of the Sudanese conflict in light of the expansion of fighting.
High Commissioner Volker Türk said that some violations may amount to war crimes, adding: “There must be prompt, comprehensive, effective, transparent, independent and impartial investigations into all allegations of violations and abuses of international human rights law and violations of international humanitarian law, and those responsible must be brought to justice.” .
The High Commissioner also called on both parties to the conflict to ensure rapid and unhindered access to humanitarian aid in all areas under their control.
The armed conflict in Sudan led to the killing of thousands of civilians, the displacement of millions, the looting of property, and the recruitment of children, with the fighting expanding to new areas of the country, according to the report.
The report details several indiscriminate attacks launched by both the Sudanese Armed Forces and the Rapid Support Forces on densely populated areas during fighting during the period between April and December 2023, including sites housing internally displaced persons, especially in the capital, Khartoum, Omdurman, Kordofan, and Darfur.
UN High Commissioner for Human Rights Volker Türk said: “For nearly a year, narratives from Sudan speak of death, suffering and despair, as senseless conflict and human rights violations continue with no end in sight.”
The report provides a reading of the tragedy that has been unnecessarily inflicted on the Sudanese people since April 2023, and reaffirms the urgent need to end the fighting and break the cycle of impunity that led to the outbreak of the conflict in the first place.
He added, “The weapons in Sudan must be silenced and civilians protected, and there is an urgent need to seriously resume comprehensive talks to restore civilian government in order to open a way forward.”
Beheadings
The report noted, “Just this week, our office verified a reliable video showing the beheading of four students by men wearing Sudanese Armed Forces uniforms in the city of El Obeid while they were traveling through North Kordofan State. They considered them to be supporters of the Rapid Support Forces based on their presumed ethnic affiliation.” “.
“The video, which was posted on social media on February 15, shows men dressed in army fatigues parading severed heads in the street and chanting ethnic insults,” the report added.
The report is based on interviews conducted by the Office with 303 victims and witnesses, including dozens of interviews conducted in Ethiopia and eastern Chad, as well as analysis of photographs, videos, satellite images and information from other open sources.
The report shows that both sides of the conflict used explosive weapons with wide-area effects, such as missiles fired from combat aircraft, drones, anti-aircraft weapons, and artillery shells in densely populated areas.
The report stated that two separate incidents occurred in Khartoum in April 2023. Eight missiles fired by the Sudanese Armed Forces killed at least 45 civilians, while two artillery shells fired by the Rapid Support Forces at a Libyan market, in June of the year, resulted in the killing of 15 civilians. at least.
On September 28, 2023, shells fired by the Rapid Support Forces exploded at a bus station in Omdurman, killing at least 10 civilians. Thousands were also killed in attacks launched by the Rapid Support Forces in Darfur, some of which were ethnically motivated.
The report indicated that between May and November 2023, the Rapid Support Forces and their allied Arab militia carried out at least 10 attacks against civilians in the city of El Geneina, the capital of West Darfur, killing thousands of people, most of them from the African Masalit tribe. The RSF and its allies committed killings in the town of Mornei and Ardamata, where at least 87 bodies were buried in a mass grave.
The report states that many rapes were committed in homes and streets by individuals belonging to the Rapid Support Forces. He added that a woman was detained in one of the buildings where she was repeatedly gang-raped over a period of 35 days.
The report cites a statement issued by the Popular Authority to Support the Sudanese Armed Forces, a popular entity supportive of the Sudanese army, stating that it has armed 255,000 young men in camps throughout Sudan.
The report also found that the RSF also recruited children from Arab tribes in Darfur and Kordofan, while African tribes, including the Fur, Masalit and Zaghawa, responded to recruitment campaigns launched by the Sudanese Armed Forces.