As the conflict between the army and paramilitaries enters its seventh month and continues to worsen, a senior United Nations official has issued a warning that the violence against civilians in Sudan is “verging on pure evil.”
“We keep harping on the fact that the situation is dreadful and hopeless. Clementine Nkweta-Salami, the United Nations humanitarian coordinator for Sudan, stated that “frankly, we are running out of words to describe the horror of what is happening in Sudan.”
“We continue to receive unrelenting and appalling reports of sexual and gender-based violence, enforced disappearance, arbitrary detentions, and grave violations of human and children’s rights,” she said to the reporters.
She stated that “what is happening is verging on pure evil” while referencing instances of young girls being raped in front of their moms. “What is happening is verging on pure evil,” she remarked. She stated that she was concerned about the possibility of a genocide occurring in this part of western Sudan similar to the one that occurred in the early 2000s.
Since April, forces that are loyal to army leader Abdel Fattah al-Burhan, who is the de facto head of state in Sudan, have been at war with the paramilitary Rapid Support Forces (RSF), which are commanded by Mohamed Hamdan Dagalo, who was his previous deputy.
The United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR) pointed to allegations that more than 800 individuals had been slain by armed groups in Ardamata in West Darfur. This was a region that had been less affected by the conflict up to this point.
According to statements made by spokesperson William Spindler to reporters in Geneva, “we have received these reports from new arrivals in Chad, these are refugees fleeing the Darfur area, that are talking about armed militia going from house to house killing men and boys.” These refugees are fleeing from the Darfur region.
He went on to say that it was believed that the killings had taken place during the past few days.
In addition to other things, Ardamata is home to a camp for persons who have been displaced within Sudan. The UNHCR reported that about one hundred shelters had been destroyed in this region. In a separate statement, it issued a warning that widespread looting had taken place, including the theft of UNHCR aid supplies.
Filippo Grandi, head of UN High Commissioner for Refugees, underlined Nkweta-Salami’s warning that there is a risk of a replay of the horrors that were unleashed twenty years ago in response to a rebel revolt when the regime of Omar al-Bashir released the Janjaweed militia.
Grandi made these remarks in a statement, saying that “twenty years ago, the world was shocked by the terrible atrocities and human rights violations in Darfur.” “Our greatest concern is that a similar dynamic may be forming.”
The United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR) said that preparations were being made for a new influx of refugees from the region into Chad, which is currently housing hundreds of thousands of Sudanese refugees.
According to conservative provided by the Armed fighting Location and Event Data project, the fighting in Sudan has resulted in the deaths of more than 10,000 individuals as of this point.
However, humanitarian organizations and medical professionals have warned numerous times that the actual death toll is likely to be higher than the figures that have been officially reported. This is because a significant number of those who have been injured or murdered do not make it to hospitals or morgues.
According to data provided by the United Nations, the civil war has resulted in the displacement of more than 4.8 million people within Sudan and has compelled an additional 1.2 million to migrate into countries that are nearby.
