UN Urges Investigation into Sudan Crimes

The U.N. is calling for an investigation into violations of international law that occurred last June in Sudan’s Southern Kordofan state, according to a U.N. news release.

Most of the violations were allegedly committed by the Sudanese armed forces, the Central Reserve Police, or their military allies.

A report by the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR) detailed a variety of violations, including indiscriminate killing, use of illegal chemical weapons, abduction, arbitrary arrest, illegal detention, forced displacement, and attacks on churches. The report covers events from June 5 to June 30.

One eyewitness reported seeing Sudanese forces dump dead bodies into a graveyard and bulldoze the site to cover up the bodies, on June 22. The UNHCR also recorded eyewitness accounts of people being shot dead, sometimes in public.

U.N. Mission to Sudan (UNMIS) staff was also caught in the violence. On June 7, an UNMIS truck was stopped, and three internally displaced people (IDPs) were pulled out and beaten. When an UNMIS staff member tried to stop the beatings, the member was threatened at gunpoint.

On the same day, a UNMIS staff member was shot in the legs, reportedly by popular defense forces, a branch of the Sudanese armed forces.

“The government should immediately release all individuals detained illegally including U.N. staff,” the Office of the High Commissioner for Human Rights strongly recommended in the report.

It added that humanitarian aid should be allowed to reach affected regions, and a thorough investigation be conducted.

Accurate information should also be made available to internally displaced people, so that an informed decision can be made about whether to return home, according to the report.