The United States voiced strong condemnation on Thursday against what it referred to as human rights abuses and "horrific violence" in Sudan amid a war that has been raging in the country for approximately two months, according to Matthew Miller, spokesperson for the U.S. Department of State.
Miller stated that "victims and human rights advocacy groups have credibly accused soldiers of the Rapid Support Forces (led by Mohammed Hamdan Dagalo) and affiliated armed groups of committing acts of rape and other forms of sexual violence related to the conflict."
The fighting in Sudan, instigated on April 15th between the army led by Abdel Fattah al-Burhan and the Rapid Support Forces, has resulted in the displacement of 2.2 million people and the deaths of at least a thousand individuals.
"Genocide"
Miller referred to local group estimates which state that up to 1,100 civilians have been killed in the region of Genena alone, and that the United Nations reported more than 273,000 people have been displaced in West Darfur, adding that "women are the primary victims of this violence."
Miller further stated: "The atrocities occurring today in West Darfur and other regions are a grim reminder of the horrific events that led the United States to conclude in 2004 that a genocide was committed in Darfur."
He emphasized that the United States specifically condemns the murder of West Darfur Governor Khamis Abkar, on Wednesday, following accusations that the Rapid Support Forces, and other factions had committed genocide. He also expressed concern over reports of the killing of the brother of Sultan Al-Masalit (tribal leader) and 16 others in Genena on June 12.
"Crimes Against Humanity"
He continued in the statement saying that while the atrocities are "primarily attributed to the Rapid Support Forces and their allied armed groups," the Sudanese Armed Forces "failed to protect civilians, and reports suggest they exacerbated the conflict through encouraging tribal mobilization."
It is important to note that Volker Peretz, head of the United Nations mission in Sudan, previously stated that the acts of violence witnessed in the Darfur region could potentially amount to "crimes against humanity."
In a statement on Tuesday, Peretz indicated that since the outbreak of battles, "security situations, human rights, and the humanitarian situation have rapidly deteriorated across the country, especially in the Greater Khartoum areas, Darfur, and Kordofan."
The army and the Rapid Support Forces, both of which jointly overthrew President Omar al-Bashir in 2019, started fighting in the heart of the capital, Khartoum, in April, following a dispute over merging their forces as part of a new transition to democracy.
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