GENEVA: UN rights chief Volker Turk said on Thursday that he was "appalled" by reports of extrajudicial killings of civilians in Sudan's capital Khartoum last week after its recapture by the army from the paramilitary Rapid Support Forces. "I am utterly appalled by the credible reports of numerous incidents of summary executions of civilians in several areas of Khartoum, on apparent suspicions that they were collaborating with the Rapid Support Forces," Turk said in a statement.
The RSF, led by Mohamed Hamdan Daglo, has been battling the army, led by Sudan leader Abdel Fattah al Burhan, since April 2023. Last week, the army said it had retaken full control of Khartoum after weeks of attacks on the capital by the paramilitaries, though Daglo said his forces had only "repositioned". An activist group, the Sudanese resistance committee, said on Wednesday that at least 85 people had been killed in one week during the fighting. "For the seventh consecutive day, the Janjaweed militias continue their violent attacks on villages... west of Jabal Awliya, resulting in the deaths of more than 85 people and the injury of dozens," said the Sudanese resistance committee.
"I urge the commanders of the Sudanese Armed Forces to take immediate measures to put an end to arbitrary deprivation of life," Turk said. He said his office had reviewed "horrific videos" on social media since March 26 apparently showing armed men "executing civilians in cold blood" in southern and eastern Khartoum. "In some videos, perpetrators state that they are punishing supporters of RSF," the statement said.
The war has created what the United Nations describes as the world's worst hunger and displacement crises. More than 12 million people have been uprooted, tens of thousands killed, and a UN-backed assessment declared famine in parts of the country. Despite the army reclaiming Khartoum, Africa's third-largest country remains essentially divided in two by the war. The army holds sway in the east and north while the RSF controls most of the vast Darfur region in the west and parts of the south. — AFP
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