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UN report alleges widespread human rights abuses in Sudan conflict – JURIST

The United Nations Office of the High Commissioner for Human Rights (UNHCR) released a report Friday of thousands of incidents of human rights abuses it says have occurred during the ongoing conflict in Sudan, including attacks by militias in densely populated civilian areas, mass graves and widespread sexual violence.The conflict between the Sudan Armed Forces (SAF) and the Rapid Support Forces (RSF) began in April 2023 over a failed political agreement between the two groups. Since then, the fighting has exacerbated pre-existing humanitarian issues in the country, which already suffers from high poverty rates and food insecurity.The UN stated that both the SAF and the RSF have committed human rights abuses. The report details public executions by the SAF of suspected RSF members and an RSF attack that hit a market, killing 15 civilians. The report alleges that many of these attacks have been motivated by ethnic animosities. Additionally, it accuses both parties of using weapons, such as wide-area explosives, that are internationally banned for use in highly concentrated civilian areas.High Commissioner for Human Rights Volker Türk said the SAF and RSF must resume talks if there is to be peace, stating:This report makes for yet more painful reading on the tragedy being needlessly inflicted on the Sudanese people since April 2023, but also underlines once more the dire need to end the fighting and to break the cycle of impunity that gave rise to this conflict in the first place. The guns must be silenced, and civilians must be protected.The UN interviewed over 300 people impacted by the violence to produce the report.