International bodies have called for condemning the crimes committed by the Rapid Support Forces (RSF) against civilians in Gezira State in central Sudan, which have claimed the lives of dozens of civilians.
They called for protecting civilians and holding perpetrators accountable.Sudanese activists and doctors accused the RSF on Saturday of killing 124 civilians in attacks on the village of Al-Sareiha in Gezira State, which came as “retaliation” for the defection of leaders from that state from the RSF and their joining the army.
The UN Humanitarian Coordinator in Sudan, Clementine Nkweta-Salami, said in a statement on Sunday that she is deeply concerned about reports of escalating armed violence in Gezira State. She added that these reports indicate that RSF fighters “fired indiscriminately at civilians, committed acts of sexual violence against women and girls, and looted markets and homes on a large scale and burned farms.”She mentioned that these reports indicated that “residents of many villages were physically assaulted, humiliated and threatened, which led to dozens of civilians fleeing their homes in search of safety, while those who remained face severe threats.”Salami said, “I am shocked and appalled by the repetition of human rights violations of the kind we saw in Darfur in western Sudan last year, such as rape, targeted attacks, sexual violence, and mass killings, in Gezira State… These are atrocious crimes.”She emphasized that “women, children and the most vulnerable groups bear the brunt of a conflict that has already claimed many lives.”Salami explained that “attacking civilians, civilian targets and public infrastructure is prohibited under international humanitarian law, and is unacceptable and must stop immediately, and civilians must be protected wherever they are.”Borrell and GhebreyesusFor his part, EU foreign policy chief Josep Borrell said via his account on the X platform that “the horrific images coming from Gezira State in Sudan are alarming.”He added, “There are reports that the Rapid Support Forces committed more mass killings and rapes. The massacres against civilians must stop and the perpetrators must be held accountable,” stressing that “the European Union continues to work to achieve justice.
“In this regard, WHO Director-General Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus said in a post on his X account, “We have received tragic reports from Sudan that at least 124 people were killed in Gezira State.”Ghebreyesus stressed that “recent events confirm the ongoing horrific humanitarian crisis in Sudan, and the urgent need to protect civilians, which the international community and the media continue to ignore.”The head of Sudan’s Transitional Sovereignty Council, Abdel Fattah al-Burhan, affirmed that the RSF’s violations of international law and crimes against humanity “will not go unpunished, and make it impossible to tolerate them.”The Sudanese Ministry of Foreign Affairs also accused the RSF of launching “retaliatory attacks on villages and towns in eastern Gezira adjacent to Khartoum from the southern side, after the defection of leaders belonging to that state and their joining the army.
” The ministry described the attacks as “amounting to genocide and ethnic cleansing.”After the defection of the RSF commander in Gezira, Abu Aqila Muhammad Ahmad Kikel, on October 20, clashes between the army and the RSF renewed in the state.In December 2023, RSF forces led by Kikel took control of several cities in Gezira, including Wad Madani, the state center.Currently, the RSF controls large parts of the state, with the exception of the city of Al-Managil, and the surrounding areas up to the borders of Sennar State to its south, and westward to the borders of White Nile State.Since mid-April 2023, the Sudanese army and the RSF have been waging a war that has left more than 20,000 dead and more than 11 million displaced and refugees, according to the United Nations.UN and international calls are escalating to end the war to spare Sudan a humanitarian catastrophe that has begun to push millions into famine and death due to lack of food because of the fighting that has spread to 13 out of 18 states.Source: Al Jazeera + agencies
