‘71 verified human rights abuses in Darfur in October’: SUDO (UK)
In its October 2015 overview, UK-based charity SUDO says its network of human rights monitors have reported and verified 71 incidents of human rights abuses throughout four of the five states of Darfur, in addition to the states of South Kordofan, West Kordofan, Blue Nile, Khartoum, Kassala and the Red Sea.
In its October 2015 overview, UK-based charity SUDO says its network of human rights monitors have reported and verified 71 incidents of human rights abuses throughout four of the five states of Darfur, in addition to the states of South Kordofan, West Kordofan, Blue Nile, Khartoum, Kassala and the Red Sea.
SUDO (UK) was set up in order to provide a mechanism to support the work of the Sudan Social Development Organisation (SUDO) in Sudan and/or the work of others striving for human rights and social development in the country.
In its latest report, SUDO assessed that the Government of Sudan is responsible for 32 of the 71 abuses. This includes acts conducted by the Rapid Support Forces (3), the Border Guards (2), the Sudanese Armed Forces (5), the Sudanese Air Force (1), Military Intelligence (9), local government officials (3), the Humanitarian Aid Commission (1), police (3), and the National Intelligence and Security Services (5).
Meanwhile, acts conducted by various militias throughout Darfur were responsible for 34 such abuses. There were further situations involving the behaviour of oil companies in West Kordofan and a case of collective punishment perpetrated by traditional leaders of the El Mahameed ethnic group.
Various incidents involved several of the aforementioned groups working in cohort, notably Government and pro-Government forces.
The 73 incidents of human rights abuses include the murder of 35 civilians (three children), the destruction of nine villages and the partial destruction of eight, the rape of 38 women including nine minors, the kidnapping of 12 persons, one aerial bombardment consisting of 22 barrel bombs dropped over civilian targets in eastern Jebel Marra, one closure of a civil society group in Khartoum, and 26 arrests including seven situations involving the use of torture.
SUDO notes that “the number of specific human rights abuses recorded certainly underestimates the total number of abuses and their effects on the civilian population. SUDO only uses information provided to it by its monitors.”
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