UN rights chief: ‘Arbitrary killings in Sudan have tripled’
UN High Commissioner for Human Rights, Volker Türk, addresses 55th session of the Human Rights Council on the human rights situation in Sudan (File photo: UNHCHR)
The UN High Commissioner for Human Rights (OHCHR), Volker Türk, has issued a stark warning that Sudan is spiralling further into lawlessness, with escalating violence in North Darfur and Kordofan and a surge in civilian killings.
Speaking at the 59th session of the Human Rights Council yesterday, Türk said, “Sudan is plunging deeper into chaos and lawlessness, without the attention this situation demands.”
He raised alarm over intensifying hostilities, citing “grave violations of international humanitarian and human rights law.”
According to Türk, the OHCHR recorded a threefold increase in the number of arbitrary killings of civilians between February and April. He attributed the sharp rise primarily to “summary executions by the Sudanese Armed Forces [SAF] of alleged collaborators in Khartoum.”
The warning comes amid growing reports of atrocities in El Fasher, capital of North Darfur, where the SAF and paramilitary Rapid Support Forces have engaged in fierce battles for weeks, displacing thousands and compounding the humanitarian crisis.
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