The UN Human Rights Office on Thursday said that bodies of at least 87 ethnic Masalit and others allegedly killed last month by Rapid Support Forces (RSF) and their allied militia in Sudan's West Darfur were found buried in a mass grave outside the region’s capital El-Geneina on the orders of the RSF. The UN Human Rights Office cited "credible information" as revealing that local people were forced to dispose of the bodies in a mass grave, denying the deceased a decent burial in a cemetery.
"At least 37 bodies were buried on June 20 in the approximately one-metre-deep mass grave in an open area called Al-Turab Al Ahmar (Red Soil), in the Ranga area, about two to four kilometres northwest of the headquarters of the Central Reserve Police in western El-Geneina, sources said. Another 50 bodies were buried at the same site on 21 June. The bodies of seven women and seven children were among those buried," a statement read.
It cited the "credible information gathered by the Office" as revealing that those buried in the mass grave were "killed by RSF and their allied militia around 13-21 June in El-Geneina’s Al-Madaress and Al-Jamarek districts". The fatalities include many victims of the violence that followed the killing of Khamis Abbaker, the Governor of West Darfur, on June 14, shortly after he was taken into custody by the RSF. They also include individuals who died from untreated injuries, the statement informed.
The UN High Commissioner for Human Rights, Volker Türk, urged the RSF and other parties to permit and facilitate prompt searches for the dead, their collection, and evacuation without distinction, including based on ethnic background because all of them are obliged to do the same under international law.
“I condemn in the strongest terms the killing of civilians and hors de combat individuals, and I am further appalled by the callous and disrespectful way the dead, along with their families and communities, were treated,” Türk said, as quoted in the statement.
“There must be a prompt, thorough and independent investigation into the killings, and those responsible must be held to account,” he stressed.
The UN Human Rights Office stated witnesses reporting instances where the RSF allowed the collection of the dead after mediation with Arab and other community leaders, but they refused to allow the removal of the injured to hospitals for medical treatment.
It further mentioned witnesses as saying that local mediation efforts for access to and burial of the dead have generally taken long, leaving several bodies lying in the streets for days. As per the statement, a family said it had to wait 13 days before being allowed to collect the body of a family member, a Masalit dignitary killed on or around June 9 by the RSF and their allied militia.
“The RSF’s leadership and their allied militia as well as all parties to an armed conflict are required to ensure that the dead are properly handled, and their dignity protected,” Türk mentioned.
The UN body highlighted that all parties to the conflict must ensure the injured receive medical care as per international humanitarian law and international human rights law.
"The High Commissioner called on the RSF leadership immediately and unequivocally to condemn and stop the killing of people, and to end violence and hate speech against people on the basis of their ethnicity," it added.
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RSF Official Denies Involvement In Incident, Army Calls Rebellion As 'Project Of Ethnic Cleansing'
News agency Reuters reported an RSF senior official as saying that it "completely denies any connection to the events in West Darfur as we are not party to it, and we did not get involved in a conflict as the conflict is a tribal one."
"This rebel militia is not against the army but against the Sudanese citizen, and its project is a racist project and a project of ethnic cleansing," he remarked.
Ethnic bloodshed has reportedly escalated in recent weeks after fighting between rival military factions erupted in April and brought Sudan to the brink of civil war.
In El Geneina, witnesses and rights groups said they witnessed waves of attacks by the RSF and Arab militias against the non-Arab Masalit people, which include shootings at close range, the report mentioned.
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