Volker Türk said that some violations amount to war crimes (French)

The United Nations on Friday condemned "horrific violations and abuses" that it said were committed by the Sudanese army and the Rapid Support Forces during the ongoing battles between them for the tenth month in Sudan.

UN High Commissioner for Human Rights Volker Türk said, “For about a year, accounts have been heard coming from Sudan of death, suffering and despair, as the senseless conflict and human rights violations continue with no end in sight.”

These statements came in the wake of the publication of a United Nations report - yesterday, Thursday - documenting violations committed by the two warring parties.

The report revealed that the army forces and the Rapid Support Forces “carried out indiscriminate attacks in areas with high population density, including sites housing displaced persons, especially in the capital, Khartoum, Kordofan (south), and Darfur (west).”

The report documents the period between last April and December, and is based on interviews with more than 300 victims and witnesses, in addition to video clips and satellite images.

Rapid Support Forces (Associated Press)

Violence and rape

Last November, about a dozen experts at the United Nations warned of the widespread spread of sexual violence, sometimes racially motivated.

The report listed "118 cases of sexual violence, including 19 children."

The report confirmed that "many cases of rape were committed by the Rapid Support Forces," which activists have accused for months of raping women and girls in Sudan.

Türk warned that "some of these violations amount to war crimes," calling for a "rapid, comprehensive, effective, transparent, independent and impartial investigation" and for "those responsible to be brought to justice."

According to the UN report, documented video evidence shows that many students traveling by land in North Kordofan state may have been beheaded by men wearing army uniforms, due to their supposed support for the Rapid Support Forces and their ethnic affiliation.

Sudanese army soldiers (French)

Clips and investigation

A video clip posted on social media platforms in mid-February showed soldiers marching carrying severed heads while shouting ethnic insults, according to the United Nations.

The Sudanese army commented that the clip was “shocking” and said that it would investigate the matter.

A UN spokesman said that Turk's office would follow up with the Sudanese authorities on the progress made in the investigation.

The United States has already officially determined that both sides of the conflict committed war crimes, and said that the Rapid Support Forces and their allied militias were involved in ethnic cleansing operations in West Darfur.

On the other hand, both sides of the conflict said that they would investigate reports of killings and violations and would prosecute any militants proven involved.

Displaced Sudanese in a camp in neighboring Chad (French)

International numbers

The confrontations that broke out last April 15 between the army led by Abdel Fattah al-Burhan and the Rapid Support Forces led by his deputy, Mohamed Hamdan Dagalo (Hemedti), resulted in the deaths of 13,900 people, according to a United Nations statement published on Friday.

About 8.1 million people also fled their homes in Sudan, including about 6.3 million inside Sudan and 1.8 million who fled outside the country, according to a statement by the UN office.

The statement indicated that the number of internally displaced persons increased by 53,500 people during the past week, according to a statistical tracking of displacement conducted by the International Organization for Migration.

Source: Agencies