UN alarm over alleged extra-judicial killings

The UN High Commissioner for Human Rights has said he was appalled at what he described as 'credible reports' of extrajudicial killings of civilians by the Sudanese army, after it recaptured the capital Khartoum last week, according to BBC News. In a statement, Volker Türk called for a full investigation into the allegations. He expressed his concern over the 'credible reports of numerous incidents of summary executions of civilians in several areas of Khartoum, on apparent suspicions that they were collaborating with the Rapid Support Forces'. Videos have been circulating for several days on social media of alleged killings of civilians by armed men, purportedly in and around Khartoum. The UN Human Rights Office said it believed the videos were credible evidence of abuse. We are currently awaiting a response from the Sudanese armed forces to the allegations. Türk said his office had reviewed ‘multiple horrific videos showing armed men ‘executing civilians in cold blood, often in public settings’. In some of the videos the perpetrators state they are punishing supporters of the RSF, he said. The army has been battling the RSF for the past two years in a civil war that has created the world's worst humanitarian crisis. ‘I urge the commanders of the Sudanese Armed Forces to take immediate measures to put an end to arbitrary deprivation of life,’ Türk said, adding that ‘extrajudicial killings are serious violations of international human rights and humanitarian law. Individual perpetrators, as well as those with command responsibility, must be held accountable for such unacceptable actions under international criminal law.’

Full BBC News report