The UN Human Rights office points to “credible information” about the responsibility of the RSF paramilitaries in these events
July 13 (EUROPA PRESS) –
Around 90 people, including members of the Masalit community, were buried in a mass grave in the Sudanese province of Western Darfur (west), as confirmed on Thursday by the United Nations Human Rights Office, which has pointed to “credible information ” about the involvement of the paramilitary Rapid Support Forces (RSF), facing the Sudan Army in a war that broke out on April 15.
The office headed by Volker Turk has indicated in a statement that “the bodies of at least 87 Masalit and other people allegedly killed last month by the RSF and their allied militias in Western Darfur were buried in a mass grave on the outskirts of the capital. region, El Geneina, following orders from the RSF”.
Thus, it has detailed that “local residents were forced to bury the bodies in a common grave, which meant denying a decent burial to the dead in one of the city’s cemeteries.” “At least 37 bodies were buried on June 20 in a mass grave about one meter deep in an open area known as Al Turab al Ahmar, in the Ranga area, a distance of two to four kilometers northwest of the headquarters of the Central Reserve Police in El Geneina”, he revealed.
“Another 50 bodies were buried in this same place on June 21,” the agency said, before specifying that “the bodies of seven women and seven children were among those buried,” without the RSF having ruled on this for now. these accusations.
Along these lines, he has pointed out that “credible information” suggests that those buried in this grave “died at the hands of the RSF and its allied militia between June 13 and 21 in the neighborhoods of Al Madares and Al Jamarek, in El Geneina, including many victims of the violence that followed the June 14 execution of West Darfur Governor Jamis Abdallah Abkar shortly after being taken into RSF custody.”
For this reason, Turk has asked the RSF and the rest of the parties to the conflict to allow and facilitate searches for the dead, their recovery and evacuation without distinction, nor for ethnic reasons, in line with the provisions of International Law.
“I condemn in the strongest terms the killing of civilians and people untouched by the fighting and I am appalled by the cruel and disrespectful way in which the dead were treated, along with their families and communities,” said Turk, who has called for a “prompt, exhaustive and independent investigation into the murders” so that “those responsible are held accountable.”
In this sense, it has asserted that “witnesses have recounted that local mediation efforts for access and burial of the dead have taken a long time, which has caused many bodies to remain dumped for days on the street.” “One family said they had to wait 13 days before receiving permission to retrieve the body of a relative, a senior Masalit official killed on June 9 by the RSF and their allied militia,” she argued.
“Witnesses have told the UN Human Rights Office that in situations in which the RSF allowed the recovery of the bodies, after mediation by Arab community leaders and other communities, they refused to allow the transfer of the wounded to hospitals for treatment,” he said.
For this reason, Turk has emphasized that “the leadership of the RSF and its allied militias, as well as all parties to an armed conflict, must guarantee that the dead are buried properly and that their dignity is protected”, before call on the paramilitary group to “immediately and unequivocally condemn the killing of people and put an end to ethnically motivated violence and hate speech.”
Turk’s office has further indicated that the RSF must record or allow aid workers to record all information regarding the dead, including taking photos of the bodies or marking the location of the graves, in order to identify the victims and delivery of these to relatives who request it.
HRW ACCUSATIONS
Turk’s statement comes just two days after the non-governmental organization HRW accused RSF and allied Arab militias of summarily executing 28 Masalits in a May attack in West Darfur, while also appealing to the International Criminal Court ( TPI) to investigate these crimes.
The NGO indicated in a report that these groups stormed Misterei, mostly inhabited by Masalit, on May 28, where they also killed and injured dozens of civilians before looting and burning most of the city, causing thousands of people to flee towards Chad.
Residents have located the bodies of 59 people in mass graves, though local officials have put the death toll at 97, including members of self-defense groups. HRW has confirmed the death of at least 40 civilians as a result of the attack in Misterei.
The current hostilities between the Army and the paramilitaries broke out in the context of an increase in tensions around the integration of the RSF within the Armed Forces, a key part of an agreement signed in December to form a new civilian government and reactivate the transition open after the overthrow in 2019 of Omar Hasan al Bashir, damaged by the coup in October 2021, in which the prime minister of unity, Abdalá Hamdok, was overthrown.
The war has so far left more than 1,100 dead, according to the Sudanese Ministry of Health, but the real figures could be much higher considering the inter-communal violence unleashed in the Kordofan and Darfur regions.
In addition, more than three million people have been displaced, including almost 740,000 who have fled to neighboring countries, according to data published this Wednesday by the International Organization for Migration (IOM), amid reports of daily atrocities and large-scale sexual abuse against the women and girls of the country.
