The European Union (EU) is “appalled” by “credible reports” of “more than 1,000 deaths” in just over two days in Darfur, western Sudan, in what appears to be be a campaign of “ethnic cleansing”.
“The latest atrocities appear to be part of a broader ethnic cleansing campaign carried out by the RSF (Rapid Support Forces, paramilitary editor’s note) with the objective of eradicating the non-Arab Masalit tribe from West Darfur,” declared the leader. of European diplomacy Josep Borrell in a press release published on Sunday.
They come “in addition to a first wave of large-scale violence” in June, he said.
“Credible witnesses report more than 1,000 members of the Masalit tribe killed in Ardamata, West Darfur in just over two days, during large-scale attacks carried out by the Rapid Support Forces (RSF) and its affiliated militias,” writes the EU.
The UN refugee agency (UNHCR) recently reported “more than 800 people” who “were killed by armed groups in Ardamata”.
The EU “works” in particular “with the International Criminal Court to establish and document human rights violations in order to ensure that their perpetrators are held accountable”, according to the press release.
The belligerents “have a duty to protect citizens,” she recalls.
“The international community cannot turn a blind eye to what is happening in Darfur and allow a new genocide to occur in the region,” warns Brussels, after that of the early 2000s.
According to UNHCR, Ardamata also housed a camp for displaced people, where nearly 100 shelters were razed.
The violence in Sudan borders on “absolute evil”, Clémentine Nkweta-Salami, UN humanitarian coordinator in the country, warned on Friday, worrying in particular about attacks based on ethnicity in Darfur.
Asked about the risks of a repeat of the genocide of the early 2000s in this region, she said she was “very worried”. “We continue to hope that we don’t end up on the same path.”
Started on April 15, the war between the head of the army, General Abdel Fattah al-Burhane, and the FSR of General Mohamed Hamdane Daglo left more than 9,000 dead, according to an estimate by the NGO Armed Conflict Location & Event Data Project (Acled), considered largely underestimated.
It has displaced more than 4.8 million people inside Sudan and 1.2 million to neighboring countries, according to the UNHCR.
This article is originally published on fr.africanews.com
