The UN High Commissioner for Human Rights, Volker Türk, on Wednesday said he was deeply shocked by reports that hundreds of civilians were killed and scores injured in airstrikes by the Sudanese Armed Forces (SAF) on a busy market in Tora village, in North Darfur State, on 24 March.
“My Office has learned that 13 of those killed belonged to a single family, and that some of the injured are also reportedly dying as a result of the extremely limited access to healthcare,” he said. “We have also received reports that in the aftermath of the attack, members of the Rapid Support Forces (RSF) arbitrarily arrested and detained civilians in Tora.”
“Despite my repeated warnings and appeals to both the Sudanese Armed Forces and the Rapid Support Forces to protect civilians in line with international humanitarian law, civilians continue to be killed indiscriminately, maimed and mistreated on a near daily basis, while civilian objects remain an all-too-frequent target,” High Commissioner Türk added.
He urged both parties to take all measures, as required by law, to avoid harming civilians and attacking civilian objects and warned that indiscriminate attacks and attacks against civilians and civilian objects are unacceptable and may constitute war crimes.
“There must be full accountability for violations committed in this latest attack, and the many other attacks against civilians that have preceded it,” Türk said. “Such conduct must never become normalized.”