Children are among the dead, and were allegedly killed by the RSF paramilitary group in West Darfur last month
The bodies of at least 87 people have been discovered in a mass grave in Sudan, the United Nations human rights office (UNHCR) reported on Thursday, accusing the country’s paramilitary Rapid Support Forces (RSF) of being responsible.
The RSF and its allied militia, according to the UN, ordered the burial of victims they allegedly killed in West Darfur last month, including ethnic Masalit, in a shallow grave outside the region’s capital, El-Geneina.
“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,” the agency said in a statement, saying it had “credible information” to back up the claim.
Intense fighting erupted in mid-April between the Sudanese Armed Forces (SAF) and the RSF, and continues across the Sahel nation, with ethnically motivated attacks reportedly on the rise.
More than 3,000 people have been killed and 6,000 injured as a result of the conflict, which has now entered its 13th week, according to the Sudanese Ministry of Health. The UN says more than two million people have been forced from their homes.
Witnesses in El Geneina and rights groups, according to multiple media reports, claim numerous attacks by the RSF and Arab militias on non-Arab Masalits, including close-range shootings.
Last month, Khamis Abdullah Abkar, the governor of West Darfur, was assassinated after allegedly accusing the RSF and allied militia of genocide against the Masalit tribe on Al-Hadath TV.
The RSF has repeatedly denied any involvement in violence in Darfur, including claims made by Human Rights Watch that they were responsible for the deaths of 28 Masalit community members and the injuries of numerous civilians in May.
The UN said at least 37 bodies were buried in the West Darfur region on June 20 in a one-meter-deep mass grave in an open area, followed by another 50 the next day.
UN High Commissioner for Human Rights Volker Turk condemned the killing of civilians on Thursday, saying he is “appalled by the callous and disrespectful way the dead, along with their families and communities, were treated.”
He urged the RSF and other conflicting parties to comply with international law and properly handle the dead with “dignity,” regardless of ethnic background.
