UN Human Rights Commissioner ‘alarmed by 18+ summary executions in Khartoum North’

The UN High Commissioner for Human Rights, Volker Türk, on Friday said he was deeply alarmed by reports of summary executions of civilians – many from Darfur or Kordofan – in seven separate incidents, allegedly by fighters and militia allied to the Sudanese Armed Forces (SAF) in Khartoum North (Bahri), and reiterated his call for an immediate end to such attacks.

In his statement Türk confirms that “according to information verified by the UN Human Rights Office, at least 18 people, including one woman, were killed in seven separate incidents, attributed to SAF-affiliated fighters and militia since the SAF regained control of the area on 25 January. Many of the victims of these incidents, which took place in the vicinity El Jeili oil refinery, were originally from the Darfur or Kordofan regions of Sudan.

“There are further disturbing allegations emanating from Khartoum North, which the UN Human Rights Office continues to corroborate. In a video circulated on 30 January 2025, men in SAF uniform and members of the El Baraa Bin Malik Brigade in Khartoum North are observed reading out a long list of names of alleged RSF collaborators, saying “Zaili” – Arabic for “killed” – after each name,” Türk says.

“These reports of summary executions, following similar incidents earlier this month in El Gezira state, are deeply disturbing. Such killings must not become normalised. Deliberately taking the life of a civilian or anyone not or no longer directly taking part in hostilities is a war crime.

“I once again call on all parties to the conflict to take urgent action to protect civilians and to uphold obligations under international humanitarian and human rights law. Independent investigations must be held into these incidents in line with relevant international standards.”

Türk fears further attacks amid shocking threats of violence against civilians. A video reviewed by the UN Human Rights Office – recorded in the presence of a TV journalist – shows a member of El Baraa Bin Malik Brigade threatening to slaughter the residents of El Hadj Yusif in East Nile, an area of Khartoum North also mainly inhabited by people originating from Darfur and Kordofan.

Attacks on civilians and civilian infrastructure by the Rapid Support Forces (RSF) also continue unabated. In El Fasher, in North Darfur, the Abu Shouk camp for internally displaced people once again came under shelling. Nine civilians, among them two women and a boy, were killed and at least 12 others injured when the camp was shelled on 29 January.

In an earlier incident on 24 January, a drone attack, attributed to the RSF, left at least 67 dead and 19 injured at El Saudi Maternity Hospital in El Fasher, and severely damaged its emergency unit, rendering it out of service. This is the second time the hospital – which was the only functional facility providing specialised services in El Fasher – has been attacked this month. In 2024, it came under RSF shelling at least 13 times.

“Deliberate attacks on civilians and civilian objects are abhorrent. They must end immediately and so must incitement to violence against civilians. Such attacks constitute serious violations of international humanitarian law and may constitute war crimes,” Türk concludes.

‘Bahri a ghost town’

As previously reported by Radio Dabanga and the Sudan Media Forum, the war has turned Khartoum North (Bahri) into a ghost town. The army has paved a road between its neighbourhoods, from the far north to the far south, but this road is enough to give an idea of the extent of the desolation and destruction that now looms over it.

The Sudanese army is still dealing with pockets of Rapid Support Forces in the old neighbourhoods of Bahri to the west, and others in the Kafouri neighbourhood adjacent to the eastern Nile, where solid Rapid Support Forces concentrations are concentrated.

Radio Dabanga has approached the SAF and RSF for comment.