Khartoum: Rhino – The Republic of Djibouti has expressed its unequivocal condemnation of reports of widespread human rights violations by the Sudanese army and its allies in Sudan, especially the city of Wad Madani.

Djibouti, which currently chairs the IGAD Regional Development Cooperation Council, said in a press release on Sunday: “Mass killings have been documented in which Sudanese army forces and allied militias indiscriminately killed civilians, which constitutes a war crime according to international law. The systematic use of torture against civilians in an attempt to extract confessions or as a collective punishment has also been reported. Reports have included physical torture such as beatings and electrocution, as well as psychological torture. Many civilians have been unlawfully arrested without documented charges and detained for long periods of time without trial or access to legal aid, violating their basic rights.

The Sudanese army’s violations against civilians have included the destruction of personal and public property, the forced displacement of the population, and the denial of access to humanitarian aid, further exacerbating the humanitarian crisis in the country.

The Djiboutian government called for independent and comprehensive international investigations to document these violations and bring those responsible to justice and emphasized the need to strengthen the protection of civilian rights and ensure that such acts are not repeated.