Volker Turk, the United Nations High Commission for Human Rights, on Thursday called for an investigation into a mass grave in Sudan. File Photo by Marc Ferre/United Nations High Commissioner of Human Rights
July 13 (UPI) — The United Nations Human Rights Office on Thursday said that 87 people were found in a mass grave in Sudan.
The U.N. cited “credible information” obtained by the office that the people, including ethnic Masalit were killed and buried under the orders of the Rapid Support Forces, or RSF, the leading militia in Sudan that has been locked in a war with the Sudanese Armed Forces since April.
“I condemn in the strongest terms the killing of civilians and hors de combat individuals, and I am further appalled by the callous and disrespectful way the dead, along with their families and communities, were treated,” Volker Turk, the U.N. High Commissioner for Human Rights, said in a statement.
“There must be a prompt, thorough and independent investigation into the killings, and those responsible must be held to account.”
The agency said at least 37 bodies were buried on June 20 in the approximately three feet deep mass grave in an open area called Al-Turab Al Ahmar.
The office said another 50 bodies were buried at the same site on June 21, including seven women and seven children.
It added local people were forced to dispose of the bodies in a mass grave, denying those killed a decent burial in one of the city’s cemeteries.
The Office said many of the deaths followed the killing of Khamis Abbaker, the governor of West Darfur, on June 13, shortly after he was taken into custody by the RSF. The deaths also include individuals who died from untreated injuries.
“The RSF’s leadership and their allied militia as well as all parties to an armed conflict are required to ensure that the dead are properly handled, and their dignity protected,” Turk said. “The RSF must record, or allow relief workers to record, all available information related to the dead.”
Gen. Abdel Fattah al-Burhan, head of the SAF, and his deputy, RSF head Gen. Mohamed Hamdan Dagalo, led a coup in 2021 but infighting over control of the government turned into bloodshed on April 15, which has continued.
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