Sudanese in South Sudan commemorate victims of Bentiu massacre

Thousands of people attended a ceremony in Juba on Wednesday and Thursday, in commemoration of the victims of the widespread killings in Bentiu, the capital of Unity State in South Sudan on 14 and 15 April. The commemoration service, organised by the Committee of Darfur Sultans in South Sudan and the Association of Displaced People and Refugees of Darfur, took place at the Samba Square in Juba. It was attended by more than 7,000 people, including representatives from northern states of Sudan, Darfur, the Blue Nile and South Kordofan, from the neighbouring countries of Somalia, Kenya, Congo, and Egypt, as well as representatives of the Government of South Sudan. The High Committee for the Commemoration on Tuesday morning had handed a memorandum to the UN Mission in South Darfur (UNMISS), humanitarian organisations, and the Government of South Sudan, in which it denounced the mass attacks on civilians in Bentiu town last week in which Nuer and traders from Darfur were killed. In the memorandum, the High Committee called for an urgent evacuation of the wounded from the area, and appealed to the UN solidarity and the Government of South Sudan to investigate the massacre, prosecute the perpetrators, and bring them to justice. Genocide-like atrocitiesThe Association of Displaced People and Refugees of Darfur strongly condemned the Bentiu massacre and the other attacks by the South Sudanese rebels on Sudanese and Darfuris in South Sudan. It separately called in a statement upon the UN, the UN Security Council, the UN forces in South Sudan, the international community, human rights organisations, and the international Red Cross to immediately intervene to protect innocent foreign civilians, in particular the Darfuris, who sought refuge in South Sudan from the war raging in their region. In the statement, read by the spokesman for the Association, Hussein Abu Sharati, during the commemoration ceremony, the Association demanded from the UN Security Council to arrest the culprits and bring them to international justice immediately. “The Darfuris who were killed in South Sudan went there for protection, and were working hard to help those they had left behind.” The Association demanded from Dr Riek Machar to hold the rebel leaders who have committed “these genocide-like atrocities” accountable, and protect the Sudanese who are still trapped in the area of Bentiu and facilitate communication with their families. Photo: Participants of the ceremony protest against the killings (Radio Tamazuj) Related: Minawi blames Sudan government for Bentiu massacre (22 April 2014)Death toll 406; condemnation rises in massacre of Darfuris in Bentiu (21 April 2014)