UN rights body calls for end of hostilities in residential areas of Sudan

Geneva [Switzerland], April 28 : The UN High Commissioner for Human Rights on Thursday raised concerns over the ongoing violence in Sudan and said that the hostilities should end from the residential areas of Sudan.

"We call on the parties to immediately end hostilities, and in particular to halt hostilities in residential areas and to cease targeting the civilian population and infrastructure. The protection of civilians must be paramount. International humtarian law demands it," spokesperson for the UN High Commissioner for Human Rights, Ravina Shamdas said in a statement.

Even though the fighting temporarily stopped, clashes are still being reported in Sudan's densely populated areas, and hundreds of thousands of people have fled their homes in search of safer havens.

Sudan's human rights situation has drastically deteriorated two weeks after fighting broke out between the Rapid Support Forces (RSF) and Sudanese Armed Forces (SAF), causing fear, privation, trauma, and suffering among the civilian population, the Spokesperson said.

"While a welcome ceasefire meant some reprieve in the fighting, clashes continue to be reported in densely populated areas of Khartoum, Bahri, Omdurman and towns in Darfur and North Kordofan. We are concerned about the serious risk of violence escalating in West Darfur as the hostilities between the RSF and SAF have triggered inter-communal violence. In El Geneina, West Darfur, deadly ethnic clashes have been reported, with an estimated 96 people killed since 24 April," the statement added.

"It is deeply alarming that inmates have been released from, or escaped from, a number of prisons. We are very worried about the prospect of further violence, amid a generalized climate of impunity," Ravina Shamdas said.

Moreover, Volker Turk, the UN High Commissioner for Human Rights, emphasised the Sudanese people's tremendous hunger and resolve for freedom. The Sudanese people ousted a 30-year military dictatorship and valiantly battled the ensuing military takeover. It is incomprehensible that force is being used against them once more. Guns must be put to rest, and reason must win out.