More than 1,000 civilians were killed when a Sudanese paramilitary group took over a famine-stricken displacement camp in Sudan’s Darfur in April, including about a third who were summarily executed, according to a report by the UN human rights office on Thursday.
For months before the April 11-13 assault, the Rapid Support Forces (RSF) blocked entry of food and supplies to the Zamzam camp in Sudan’s western region of Darfur, housing nearly 500,000 people displaced by civil war, according to the UN report.
During the takeover, the RSF directed attacks against civilians, and survivors reported widespread killings, rape, torture and abductions, with at least 319 people executed in the camp or as they tried to flee.
“Such deliberate killing of civilians or persons hors de combat may constitute the war crime of murder,” said UN high commissioner for human rights, Volker Türk in a statement accompanying the 18-page report.
The findings are based on interviews conducted in July with 155 survivors and witnesses who fled to Chad.
One of them testified that eight people hiding in a room in the camp were killed by RSF fighters who inserted rifles through a window and shot at the group, the report said.
The RSF did not immediately respond to a request for comment. The group has previously denied harming civilians and said it will hold its forces to account for any violations.
The April attack was a precursor to the attack on Al-Fashir city to the north in late October, where the RSF is accused of summarily executing and kidnapping thousands of people. Most of those thought to have lived in the city are unaccounted for.
On Tuesday, the UN human rights office separately said drones had killed more than 100 civilians in Sudan’s Kordofan this month.
Reuters
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