Published January 17,2025
Subscribe
The UN human rights chief on Friday warned that the battle in Sudan is taking “an even more dangerous turn” for civilians amid experiences of dozens killed in ethnically focused assaults in Al Jazirah and an imminent battle for management of Khartoum.
The battle between the military and the paramilitary Rapid Support Forces, persevering with since April 2023, has claimed hundreds of lives and compelled tens of millions from their properties.
“As the Sudanese Armed Forces (SAF) and the Rapid Support Forces (RSF) battle for control at all costs in the senseless war that has raged for close to two years now, direct and ethnically motivated attacks on civilians are becoming increasingly common,” Volker Turk stated in a press release.
Turk burdened that the state of affairs for civilians in Sudan is already “desperate,” and “there is evidence of the commission of war crimes and other atrocity crimes.”
“I fear the situation is now taking a further, even more dangerous turn,” he warned.
According to the UN human rights workplace, within the final week alone, a minimum of 21 deaths in simply two assaults in Al Jazirah state had been documented. The workplace stated that the precise variety of assaults directed at civilians and of civilians killed are “very likely higher.”
“Retaliatory attacks-of shocking brutality-on entire communities based on real or perceived ethnic identity are on the rise, as is hate speech and incitement to violence. This must, urgently, be brought to an end,” Turk stated.
The workplace stated that “serious concerns” additionally persist for civilians in North Darfur, the place “ethnically motivated attacks by the RSF and its allied Arab militias against African ethnic groups, particularly the Zaghawa and the Fur, continue to exact a horrific toll.”
Turk renewed his name on each events to uphold obligations beneath worldwide humanitarian legislation and worldwide human rights legislation, saying assaults mustn’t ever be directed in opposition to civilians.
He additionally warned that the proliferation of militia recruitment and mobilization of fighters, largely alongside ethnic strains, dangers “unleashing a broader civil war and inter-communal violence.”
“The SAF and the RSF are responsible for the actions of groups and individuals fighting on their behalf,” he stated. “The SAF and RSF must take immediate measures to ensure the protection of all civilians, including by taking all feasible measures to avoid or at the very least minimise harm to civilians in the conduct of hostilities.”
Source: www.anews.com.tr