Sudan suffering “dehumanizing”, UN human rights expert Radhouane Nouicer
GENEVA (23 May 2023) - The UN expert on human rights in Sudan on Tuesday described the level of civilian suffering from the ongoing fighting as dehumanizing.
“This is the destruction of a country in a way that is dehumanizing its people,” said Radhouane Nouicer, who was appointed late last year by the High Commissioner for Human Rights Volker Türk upon request of the UN Human Rights Council to document and report human rights violations committed in Sudan since the 25 October 2021 coup.
“What is going on is as bad as anything I have seen in conflict zones over the course of my long career. It is horrifying, tragic, brutal, and completely unnecessary. The full array of human rights - economic, social and cultural as much as civil and political - are being violated, and both parties have singularly failed to respect their obligations under international humanitarian law.”
As foreign nationals are evacuated out of Sudan by their embassies, many Sudanese are being priced out of a journey.
Sudan’s capital has resounded with gunfire and explosions, eroding a truce amid collapsing basic services, dwindling food supplies and the opening of a prison that let out allies of a jailed former autocrat.
With the conflict between the army and the paramilitary Rapid Support Forces (RSF) showing no sign of easing, the army said former president Omar al-Bashir had been transferred to a military hospital before hostilities started on April 15.
It said Bashir was moved from prison with 30 former members of his regime, including Abdel Rahim Mohamed Hussein, who along with the former president is wanted by the International Criminal Court for war crimes for atrocities during an earlier conflict in the Darfur region.
The whereabouts of Bashir came into question after a former minister in his government, Ali Haroun, announced on Tuesday he had left Kober prison in Khartoum with other former officials.
Haroun is also wanted by the ICC on dozens of war crimes charges.
Thousands of convicted criminals, including some sentenced to death, were held in the vast prison, along with senior and lower-ranking officials from the Bashir regime, which was toppled four years ago.
Play France24 Video - Sudan fighting: Clashes between army and RSF underway despite truce.
The US-brokered ceasefire in Sudan is now in its second day.
But reports of new air strikes show just how fragile that truce between two warring generals really is.
Civilian life has come to a standstill in Sudan.
The country's residents are now facing major shortages of food, water, fuel
and electricity.
Sudan was already heavily dependent on humanitarian aid before the violence began nearly two weeks ago.
But the situation has now been plunged into chaos.
FRANCE 24's regional correspondent Bastien Renouil has the latest from Djibouti.
Sudanese authorities and the RSF traded accusations over the release of inmates, with the police saying paramilitary gunmen had stormed into five prisons at the weekend, killing several guards and opening the gates.
The RSF blamed authorities for letting Haroun and others out.
The release of convicted criminals added to a growing sense of lawlessness in Khartoum, where residents have reported worsening insecurity, with widespread looting and gangs roaming the streets.
“This war, which is ignited by the ousted regime, will lead the country to collapse,” said Sudan’s Forces of Freedom and Change, a political grouping leading an internationally backed plan to transfer to civilian rule derailed by the eruption of fighting.
Bashir came to power in a 1989 military coup and was ousted in a popular uprising in 2019.
Two years later, the army led by General Abdel Fattah al-Burhan, with support from the RSF, took over in a coup.
The present conflict between the army and RSF leader General Mohamed Hamdan Dagalo broke out in part over disagreements about how quickly to integrate the RSF into the army under the planned transition to civilian rule.
The ICC in The Hague has accused Bashir of genocide, and Haroun of organising militias to attack civilians in Darfur in 2003 and 2004.
The ICC declined to comment on Bashir, Haroun and Hussein’s prison transfers.
Play Video - WHO Warns of 'Biological Hazard' After Sudan Fighters Take Control of Laboratory
On April 25, the World Health Organization (WHO) warned of a "high risk of biological hazard" after a central public laboratory was seized in war-torn Sudan.
The renewed battles were in Omdurman, one of Khartoum’s twin cities, where the army was fighting reinforcements to the RSF brought in from other regions of Sudan, a Reuters reporter said.
The army has accused the RSF of using a three-day truce to reinforce itself with men and weapons.
The truce was due to end on Thursday evening.
Thanks to the ceasefire, fighting between army soldiers the RSF was more subdued in the centre of Khartoum.
The fighting has turned residential areas into battlefields.
Air strikes and artillery have killed at least 459 people, wounded more than 4000, destroyed hospitals and limited food distribution in a nation where a third of its 46 million people rely on humanitarian aid.
United Nations special envoy on Sudan Volker Perthes told the UN Security Council on Tuesday the ceasefire “seems to be holding in some parts so far”.
But he said neither party showed readiness to “seriously negotiate, suggesting that both think that securing a military victory over the other is possible”.
Foreign powers have evacuated thousands of diplomats and private citizens in recent days, including 1674 from 54 countries helped out by Saudi Arabia.
Sudanese along with citizens of neighbouring countries have also been leaving en masse.
More than 10,000 people crossed into Egypt from Sudan in the past five days, authorities in Cairo said, adding to an estimated 20,000 who have entered Chad.
Others have fled to South Sudan and Ethiopia, despite difficult conditions there.
Conflict intensifying and peace in short term unlikley
My guess is a negotiated solution to this conflict is not likely to happen, in the short term at any rate.
Over the weekend, General Hemeti of the Rapid Support Force (RSF) called Sudanese army General Burhan a dog, talked about hunting him down and called him a criminal - while the army have basically said they will not stop until the RSF is dissolved.
While these are statements from a few days ago, they show the mindset both sides have right now.
It's also my feeling that the intensity of the conflict has increased today, certainly compared to yesterday.
Speaking to friends in Khartoum, Omdurman and other places, they are talking about air strikes carried out by the Sudanese armed forces.
Presumably they are targeting RSF bases, who are then firing back up at the planes.
So this is urban warfare between two heavily armed forces and neither sides appears willing to back down.
My initial feeling is we're likely to see a lot more fighting over the next few days and perhaps when it becomes clear which side will win, perhaps we will get closer to talks.
Although it's a difficult picture to fully discern, it seems like the Sundanese military have the upper hand - backed by that air power.
Fierce clashes across Sudan have left an estimated 97 people dead, with up to 1,100 people injured.
It's the third day of violence between rival armed factions, part of a vicious power struggle within the country's military leadership.
The army and a paramilitary group called the Rapid Support Forces, or RSF, disagree over how the country should transition to civilian rule.
Both sides claim to control key sites in capital city Khartoum, where people have been sheltering from explosions.
One resident, Kholood Khair, told the BBC: "There are lots of people in and around their homes [...] that have been either hurt or killed by a stray bullet."
Doctors say the fighting is stopping both staff and medical supplies reaching injured people.
NOTE from Sudan Watch Editor: Many years before Sudan's president Bashir was jailed he fondly nicknamed Dagalo "Hemeti". He saw him as his replacement and the son he never had. He dislikes being called Hemeti.
- - -
From: BBC News LIVE - full copy
Saturday 15 April 2023 at 16:37 GMT UK
Edited by Rob Corp
Fighting must stop immediately - former Sudanese prime minister
Copyright: Getty Images
Abdallah Hamdok in 2021
Image caption: Abdallah Hamdok in 2021
Former Sudanese Prime Minister Abdallah Hamdok has made a statement in a video posted on his Facebook account.
He says the "exchange of fire must stop immediately" and calls on the Sudanese people to "stay strong".
Quote Message: My first message is to General Abdel Fattah Al-Burhan, and the leaders of the Sudanese military, and to Mohamed Hamdan Dagalo, and the leaders of the Rapid Support Forces (RSF).
The exchange of fire must stop immeditately, and the voice of reason must rule, everyone will lose, and there is no victory when it is atop the bodies of our people." from Abdallah Hamdok Former Prime Minister of Sudan
My first message is to General Abdel Fattah Al-Burhan, and the leaders of the Sudanese military, and to Mohamed Hamdan Dagalo, and the leaders of the Rapid Support Forces (RSF). The exchange of fire must stop immeditately, and the voice of reason must rule, everyone will lose, and there is no victory when it is atop the bodies of our people."
Abdallah Hamdok
Former Prime Minister of Sudan
He asks the Sudanese people not to allow "the drums of war to take over", before issuing a plea to the international community to "do their duty in finding a solution".
Hamdok served from 2019 until he was ousted in the October 2021 coup, before being reinstated again a month later.
He resigned last year after long-running disagreements with the army.
NOTE from Sudan Watch Editor: The international community has condemned the escalation of violence in Sudan's capital Khartoum.
The UN has voiced concern over a possible escalation of tensions in Sudan.
The head of the United Nations mission in Sudan called Saturday for an "immediate" end to fighting between the regular army and paramilitaries.
India and United Kingdom on Saturday advised its citizens in Sudan to stay indoors amid heavy firing in Sudan.
Egypt also urged all Sudanese parties to protect the lives of the citizens and prioritise the higher interests of their nation.
Jordan’s Ministry of Foreign Affairs and Expatriates said it is checking up on Jordanians residing in Sudan following the ongoing security developments.
United Arab Emirates has called for restraint.
Saudi Arabia’s airline Saudia has announced suspending all flights to and from Sudan until further notice.
Flydubai has cancelled flights to Sudan due to the current situation in the country.
Sudan situation is ‘fragile’ says the US secretary of state Antony Blinken.
Here is a snapshot of some fast-moving news published online today.
From: BBC News LIVE online
Saturday 15 April 2023
Edited by Rob Corp and Alexandra Fouché
Sudan mounts air strikes as Khartoum clashes escalate
Summary
Gunfire and explosions are heard in the Sudanese capital Khartoum as a power struggle between the country's army and paramilitaries escalates
Tensions have increased between the government and the powerful Rapid Support Forces in recent days
Reports suggest Khartoum's airport is under the control of the RSF and gunfire has been heard in the northern city of Merowe, Reuters reported
Sudanese groups and the ruling military junta failed to reach an agreement last week over transitioning to a civilian-led government
One of the issues holding up a deal is integrating the Rapid Support Forces with the army
A power struggle between Sudan's army and paramilitaries has seen fighting erupt between armed factions in the capital Khartoum and other cities
The RSF claims to be in control of key sites in the capital but the army insists it remains in control
The African Union, leading Arab states and the US have called for an end to the fighting and a resumption of talks aimed at restoring a civilian government
Sudanese groups and the ruling military junta failed to reach an agreement last week on a handover of power
Associated Press writer Jon Gambrell in Dubai, United Arab Emirates, contributed to this report.
Sudan’s army and rival force clash, wider conflict feared
KHARTOUM, Sudan (AP) — Fierce clashes between Sudan’s military and the country’s powerful paramilitary force erupted Saturday in the capital and elsewhere in the African nation, raising fears of a wider conflict in the chaos-stricken country.
In Khartoum, the sound of heavy firing could be heard in a number of areas, including the city center and the neighborhood of Bahri.
In a series of statements, the Rapid Support Forces militia accused the army of attacking its forces at one of its bases in south Khartoum.
They claimed they seized the city’s airport and “completely controlled” Khartoum’s Republican Palace, the seat of the country’s presidency.
The group also said it seized an airport and air base in the northern city of Merowe some 350 kilometers (215 miles) northwest of Khartoum. The Associated Press was unable to verify those claims.
The Sudanese army said fighting broke out after RSF troops tried to attack its forces in the southern part of the capital, accusing the group of trying to take control of strategic locations in Khartoum, including the palace.
The military also declared the RSF a rebel force and described the paramilitary’s statements as “lies.”
A military official told the AP that fighter jets took off from a military base north of Omdurman and attacked the RSF’s positions in and around Khartoum. The official spoke on condition of anonymity because he was not authorized to brief the media.
The clashes came as tensions between the military and the RSF have escalated in recent months, forcing a delay in the signing of an internationally backed deal with political parties to revive the country’s democratic transition.
Saudi Arabia’s national airline said one of its Airbus A330s was involved in “an accident” after video showed it on fire on the tarmac at Khartoum International Airport amid the fighting.
Saudia said in a statement Saturday that all its flights were suspended after the incident. It did not elaborate on the cause of the “accident” though it appeared the aircraft got caught in the crossfire of the Rapid Support Forces and Sudanese soldiers fighting around the airfield.
Another plane also appeared to have caught fire in the attack. Flight-tracking website FlightRadar24 identified it as a SkyUp Airlines 737. SkyUp is a Kyiv, Ukraine-based airline. It did not immediately respond to a request for comment.
Other commercial aircraft trying to land at the airport began turning around to head back to their originating airport.
Tensions between the army and the paramilitary stem from a disagreement over how the RSF, headed by Gen. Mohammed Hamdan Dagalo, should be integrated into the military and what authority should oversee the process.
The merger is a key condition of Sudan’s unsigned transition agreement.
However, the army-RSF rivalry dates back to the rule of autocratic former president Omar al-Bashir, who was ousted in 2019.
Under al-Bashir, the paramilitary force grew out of former militias known as janjaweed that carried out a brutal crackdown in Sudan’s Darfur region during the decades of conflict there.
In a rare televised speech Thursday, a top army general warned of potential clashes with paramilitary forces, accusing it of deploying forces in Khartoum and other areas of Sudan without the army’s consent.
The RSF defended the presence of its forces in an earlier statement.
The RSF recently deployed troops near Merowe. Also, videos that circulated on social media Thursday showed what appeared to be RSF-armed vehicles being transported into Khartoum, farther to the south.
According to a statement issued by the Sudan Doctors Committee — a part of the country’s pro-democracy movement — clashes have led to ”varying injuries.”
The military also said the fighting resulted in a number of casualties but provided no further details.
The U.S. Ambassador to Sudan, John Godfrey, wrote online that he was “currently sheltering in place with the Embassy team, as Sudanese throughout Khartoum and elsewhere are doing.”
“Escalation of tensions within the military component to direct fighting is extremely dangerous,” Godfrey wrote. “I urgently call on senior military leaders to stop the fighting.”
In Saturday’s statement, the RSF said it was contacted by three former rebel leaders who hold government positions in an apparent bid to de-escalate the conflict.
In a joint statement, civilian signatories to December’s framework agreement also called for an immediate de-escalation. “We call on the leadership of the Sudanese Armed Forces and the Rapid Support Forces to stop hostilities immediately,” it said.
Sudan has been marred in turmoil since October 2021, when a coup overthrew a Western-back government, dashing Sudanese aspirations for democratic rule after three decades of autocracy and repression under Islamist ruler Omar al-Bashir.
Smoke is seen rising from a neighborhood in Khartoum, Sudan, Saturday, April 15, 2023. Fierce clashes between Sudan’s military and the country’s powerful paramilitary erupted in the capital and elsewhere in the African nation after weeks of escalating tensions between the two forces. The fighting raised fears of a wider conflict in the chaos-stricken nation. (AP Photos/Marwan Ali)
Khartoum (AFP) – Air strikes and artillery exchanges rocked the Sudanese capital Saturday as paramilitaries and the regular army traded attacks on each other's bases, days after the army warned the country was at a "dangerous" turning point.
The paramilitaries said they were in control of the presidential place as well as Khartoum airport, claims denied by the army, as civilian leaders called for an immediate ceasefire to prevent the country's "total collapse".
The doctors' union said three civilians had been killed, including at Khartoum airport and in North Kordofan state, and at least nine others wounded.
The eruption of violence came after weeks of deepening tensions between military leader Abdel Fattah al-Burhan and his number two, paramilitary commander Mohamed Hamdan Daglo, over the planned integration of the paramilitary Rapid Support Forces (RSF) into the regular army.
The army said it had carried out air strikes against RSF bases in Khartoum. "The Sudanese air force destroyed Tiba and Soba camps," it said in a statement.
Military leader Burhan has been at loggerheads with his number two, the RSF commander, over talks to finalise a deal to return the country to civilian rule and end the crisis sparked by their 2021 coup.
The RSF said its forces had taken control of Khartoum airport, after witnesses reported seeing truckloads of fighters entering the airport compound, as well as the presidential palace and other key sites.
Its claims were quickly denied by the army, who said the airport and other bases remain under their "full control", publishing a photograph of black smoke billowing from what it said was the RSF headquarters.
The army also accused the paramilitaries of burning civilian airliners at the airport, and Saudi flag carrier Saudia said it had suspended all flights to and from Sudan until further notice after one of its Airbus A330 planes "was involved in an accident".
RSF chief Daglo vowed no let-up. "We will not stop fighting until we capture all the army bases and the honourable members of the armed forces join us," he told Al Jazeera.
'Sweeping attack'
Created in 2013, the RSF emerged from the Janjaweed militia that then president Omar al-Bashir unleashed against non-Arab ethnic minorities in the western Darfur region a decade earlier, drawing accusations of war crimes.
A plan to integrate the RSF into the regular army is one of the key points of contention, analysts have said.
Eleventh-hour haggling between the two men has twice forced postponement of the signing of an agreement with civilian factions setting out a roadmap for the transition.
Witnesses also reported clashes around the state media building in Khartoum's sister city Omdurman, as well near Burhan's residence and in Khartoum North.
Outside the capital, witness Eissa Adam said explosions and gunfire had been heard across the North Darfur state capital of El Fasher, where civilians were hunkered down inside their homes.
The two sides traded blame for starting the fighting.
The RSF said they were "surprised Saturday with a large force from the army entering camps", reporting a "sweeping attack with all kinds of heavy and light weapons".
Army spokesman Brigadier General Nabil Abdallah said the paramilitaries launched the fighting, attacking "several army camps in Khartoum and elsewhere around Sudan".
"Clashes are ongoing and the army is carrying out its duty to safeguard the country", he added.
'Slipping into abyss'
The military's civilian interlocutors called on both sides "to immediately cease hostilities and spare the country slipping into the abyss of total collapse."
Their plea was echoed by US ambassador John Godfrey, who tweeted that he "woke up to the deeply disturbing sounds of gunfire and fighting" and was "currently sheltering in place with the embassy team, as Sudanese throughout Khartoum and elsewhere are doing".
"Escalation of tensions within the military component to direct fighting is extremely dangerous. I urgently call on senior military leaders to stop the fighting," he said.
The head of the United Nations mission in Sudan Volker Perthes called for an "immediate" ceasefire.
"Perthes has reached out to both parties asking them for an immediate cessation of fighting to ensure the safety of the Sudanese people and to spare the country from further violence," the UN mission said.
Western governments had been warning of the dangers of all-out fighting between the rival security forces since the army issued its warning to the paramilitaries on Thursday.
In recent months, Daglo has said the 2021 coup was a "mistake" that failed to bring about change in Sudan and reinvigorated remnants of Bashir's regime, which was ousted by the army in 2019 following month of mass protests.
Burhan, a career soldier from northern Sudan who rose the ranks under Bashir's three-decade rule, maintained that the coup was "necessary" to bring more groups into the political process.
The central African country of Chad has closed its 872-mile (1,403 km) eastern border with Sudan "until further notice", Reuters news agency reports.
"Chad appeals to the regional and international community as well as to all friendly countries to prioritise a return to peace," the government said in a statement.
