87 Bodies Found in Sudan Mass Grave

The United Nations said Thursday, July 13, that the bodies of at least 87 people were found in a mass grave in Sudan’s West Darfur state.

A statement from the U.N. human rights office said the dead included members of the Masalit ethnic group and that the bodies were found outside the city of Geneina. The statement further added that local people were forced to bury the bodies between June 20 and June 21.

Gunfire, airstrikes, and anti-aircraft missile between the warring factions have been responsible for thousands of deaths. The war has also in recent days heated up in cities and residential areas to the west of the capital, in the fragile Darfur and Kordofan regions.

The U.N. said there was credible evidence that Sudan’s Rapid Support Forces paramilitary group was responsible.

U.N. High Commissioner for Human Rights Volker Turk also called for a “prompt, thorough and independent investigation.”

“I condemn in the strongest terms the killing of civilians and hors de combat individuals. I am further appalled by the callous and disrespectful way the dead, along with their families and communities, were treated,” Volk said in a statement.

ICC to investigate mass graves

In related news, the chief prosecutor of the International Criminal Court announced that his office is investigating the mass graves.

“If this oft-repeated phrase of ‘never again’ is to mean anything, it must mean something here and now for the people of Darfur that have lived with this uncertainty and pain and scars of conflict for two decades,” Prosecutor Karim Khan told the U.N. Security Council.

In 2005, the council referred the situation in Sudan’s Darfur region to the Hague-based tribunal. An investigation was also opened into the reported crimes of genocide, crimes against humanity and war crimes.

Several individuals have been indicted by the court. The indictees include former Sudanese President Omar al-Bashir, who was ousted from power in 2019. The ICC has issued two arrest warrants for al-Bashir on charges including genocide and war crimes. However, Bashir is yet to appear in the Hague-based court.