Human rights organizations revealed that members of the Sudanese army and allied forces have carried out field executions over the past two days, killing at least 45 civilians in a number of areas of the capital Khartoum.
According to the ‘Emergency Lawyers’ group, it has documented videos of field executions carried out by members of the Sudanese army and the groups fighting with it against prisoners and civilians in neighborhoods in southern and eastern Khartoum and the Jebel Awliya area.
These executions are carried out ‘in conjunction with an intensive social media campaign led by activists and supporters of the army to provide cover for these crimes’, the group said.
Serious breach:
The group considered that these violations, which are justified on charges of ‘collaboration with the RSF’, constitute ‘a serious breach of national and international laws, fueling hate speech and violence, and threatening the social fabric by spreading a culture of taking justice into one’s own hands, which leads some to exploit this chaos to settle their rivalries outside the framework of the law and the judiciary.’
The group warned in a statement that extrajudicial executions are considered war crimes under international humanitarian law, which prohibits the killing of prisoners and civilians without a fair trial according to the Geneva Conventions of 1949 and the additional protocols attached to them.
She added: ‘The repetition of these crimes after the army took control of the city of Wad Madani confirms that they are carried out as part of a systematic policy used to intimidate civilians and spread fear, which makes them crimes against humanity according to Article 7 of the Rome Statute of the International Criminal Court.’
The group called for action to protect civilians, immediately stop extrajudicial killings, hold all those involved in them, whether perpetrators or instigators, accountable, and ensure that they do not go unpunished.
It also called for an end to incitement campaigns that justify these violations because of the danger they pose to societal peace.
Systematic killings:
The killings included a number of civilians on a regional basis, as well as members of resistance committees and some supervisors of charity kitchens (takaya).
Journalist Salah Shuaib held the army leadership responsible for what is happening, saying: ‘There are systematic assassination campaigns that the killers document themselves without fear of local or international legal authorities.’
He added: ‘Every other day, media outlets show us a variety of gruesome videos depicting helpless young men being led to their deaths without any legal claim or trial before an impartial judiciary. All this happens under the watchful eye of the existing authority, which does nothing to condemn this act, so that its blessing of extrajudicial killings has encouraged more horrific violations.’
US action:
Since the outbreak of war between the army and the RSF in April 2023, more than 150,000 people have been killed and around 15 million have been forced to flee their homes, while millions of people face the prospect of famine and severe food insecurity.
On Monday, a member of the US Congress’ Foreign Relations Committee, Gregory Meeks, introduced a bill that includes measures to hold perpetrators of atrocities in Sudan accountable by imposing sanctions on those who have contributed to genocide, war crimes, crimes against humanity, or blocked humanitarian aid.
Meeks said the new bill would increase humanitarian assistance and provide support for the protection of civilians by authorizing US assistance to a UN, African Union or other multinational force for this purpose.
