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STORY: OHCHR / SUDAN MASS GRAVES.
TRT: 01:48
SOURCE: OHCHR
RESTRICTIONS: NONE
LANGUAGE: ENGLISH / NATS
DATELINE: 13 JULY 2023, GENEVA, SWITZERLAND
1. Various shots, exterior Palais Wilson
2. SOUNDBITE (English) Ravina Shamdasani, Spokesperson, United Nations Human Rights (OHCHR):
“The bodies of at least 87 ethnic Masalit and others allegedly killed last month by Rapid Support Forces and their allied militia in West Darfur have been buried in a mass grave outside the region’s capital El-Geneina on the orders of the Rapid Support Forces. Local people were forced to dispose of the bodies in a mass grave, denying those killed a decent burial in one of the city’s cemeteries. At least 37 bodies were buried on 20 June in the one-metre-deep mass grave. Another 50 bodies were buried at the same site the next day, including bodies of seven women and seven children. We are calling on the RSF and other parties to the conflict to allow prompt searches for the dead, their collection and evacuation without distinction, based on ethnic background - as they are obliged to do under international law. Witnesses said that local mediation efforts for access to and burial of the dead have generally taken long, leaving many bodies lying in the streets for days on end. One family told us that it had to wait 13 days before being allowed to collect the body of a family member, a Masalit dignitary. RSF’s leadership and all parties to the conflict must ensure that the dead are properly handled, and their dignity protected. Relief workers must be able to record, all available information, including taking proper photos of the bodies and identification the location of the graves. We call on the RSF leadership to immediately and unequivocally condemn and stop the killing of people, and to end violence and hate speech against people, on the basis of their ethnicity.”
Human Rights Spokesperson Ravina Shamdasani today (13 Jul) reported that “the bodies of at least 87 ethnic Masalit and others allegedly killed last month by Rapid Support Forces (RSF) and their allied militia in West Darfur have been buried in a mass grave” outside El-Geneina on the orders of RSF.
Shamdasani said, “local people were forced to dispose of the bodies in a mass grave, denying those killed a decent burial in one of the city’s cemeteries.”
She said, “at least 37 bodies were buried on 20 June in the one-metre-deep mass grave” while “another 50 bodies were buried at the same site the next day, including bodies of seven women and seven children.”
The Office of the United Nations High Commissioner for Human Rights (OHCHR) called on the RSF and other parties to the conflict “to allow prompt searches for the dead, their collection and evacuation without distinction, based on ethnic background - as they are obliged to do under international law.”
Shamdasani said, “relief workers must be able to record, all available information, including taking proper photos of the bodies and identification the location of the graves.”
She called on the RSF leadership “to immediately and unequivocally condemn and stop the killing of people, and to end violence and hate speech against people, on the basis of their ethnicity.”
