The bodies of at least 87 people believed to have been killed in Sudan by paramilitary forces and their allies last month have been buried in a mass grave in Darfur, the United Nations said on Thursday.
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According to credible information from the Office of the High Commissioner for Human Rights, these people were killed between June 13 and 21 in Al-Madaress and Al-Jamarek districts in El-Geneina, the capital of West Darfur state.
According to the UN statement, members of the Masalit tribe were among those killed.
Since April 15, Sudan’s army led by General Abdel Fattah al-Burhane has faced General Mohamed Hamdane Daglo’s Rapid Support Forces (FSR) paramilitaries.
The two generals, once allies, now vie for power and seem determined to seize it by force.
The local population was forced to bury the bodies in mass graves, according to the UN, on orders from the paramilitaries.
High Commissioner for Human Rights Volker Türk “strongly condemns the killing of civilians and non-combatants” and says he is “appalled” at the lack of respect shown to the dead, their families and communities.
He calls for a “speedy, thorough and independent investigation” and for those responsible to be brought to justice.
According to the United Nations, those killed include “many victims of the violence that followed the assassination of West Darfur Governor Khamis Abdullah Abakar on June 14, shortly after his arrest by the RSF”.
Many bodies were left on the streets for several days after the violence, and witnesses told the High Commission that the injured were not allowed to be evacuated to hospitals. Some people died because they could not be treated.
The High Commissioner called on the paramilitaries to protect “the dignity” of the dead and to list all information at their disposal – or allow aid workers to do so – to identify them and return their remains to their families.
It also urges paramilitary leaders to “stop violence and hate speech against people based on their ethnicity.”