Key Takeaways
- The UN documented 87 victims allegedly killed in a Darfur mass grave.
- The killings are linked to the Rapid Support Forces (RSF) and allied militia.
- UN High Commissioner Volker Turk demanded immediate searches and respectful handling of the dead.
Khartoum: At least 87 people allegedly killed by Sudanese paramilitary Rapid Support Forces (RSF) and their allies were uncovered from a mass grave outside West Darfur State’s capital El-Geneinaa.
The Office of the United Nations High Commissioner for Human Rights said in a press release on Thursday.
The UN office said 87 ethnic Masalit and others were killed around June 13-21 in El-Geneina’s Al-Madaress and Al-Jamarek districts, and included many victims of the violence that followed the killing of Khamis Abbaker, governor of West Darfur, on June 14 under RSF custody.
Among the uncovered bodies were seven women and seven children, and people who died from untreated injuries, the UN office said in the press release, citing what it called credible information.
The UN office claimed that locals were forced to bury them in a mass grave, denying them a decent burial.
In the statement, UN High Commissioner for Human Rights Volker Turk called on the RSF and other parties to the Sudan conflict to allow and facilitate prompt searches for the dead, their collection and evacuation without distinction, including based on ethnic background.
