UN documents over 1,000 civilian deaths in a three-day RSF attack on a Sudanese displacement camp in April, calling for a war crimes investigation.
GENEVA: The United Nations has reported that more than 1,000 civilians were killed during a three-day attack by Sudan’s paramilitary Rapid Support Forces on the Zamzam displacement camp in April.
A UN human rights office report detailed widespread killings, sexual violence, torture and abductions committed during the brutal offensive.
The rights office documented the killing of at least 1,013 civilians in the attack between April 11 and 13.
It confirmed that at least 319 individuals were summarily executed.
“Some were killed in their homes during house-to-house searches by the RSF; others were killed in the main market, in schools, health facilities and mosques,” the office stated.
More than 400,000 inhabitants of the camp for internally displaced people were displaced once again due to the attack.
The assault was part of the paramilitary force’s push to seize the city of El-Fasher, the army’s last stronghold in the western Darfur region.
The RSF captured El-Fasher in late October amid reports of more mass killings, sexual violence, abductions and looting.
“Such deliberate killing of civilians or persons (outside of) combat may constitute the war crime of murder,” UN rights chief Volker Turk said.
“There must be an impartial, thorough and effective investigation into the attack on the Zamzam IDP camp, and those responsible for serious violations of international law must be punished within fair proceedings.”
The report also details patterns of sexual violence documented by the office.
It recorded at least 104 victims assaulted between April 11 and May 20, mostly from the Zaghawa ethnic group.
They were subjected to gruesome sexual violence, including rape and gang rape, and sexual slavery, both during the attack on the camp and along the exit routes.
“The findings contained in this report are yet another stark reminder of the need for prompt action to end the cycles of atrocities and violence,” Turk added.
“The world must not sit back and watch as such cruelty becomes entrenched as the order of the day in Sudan.” – AFP
