The Ministry of Foreign Affairs of Sudan has thrown its weight behind the UN’s condemnation of the rebel Rapid Support militia for violating human rights in West Darfur.

This is contained in a statement released Monday in Abuja by Mohamed Abdelmannan, the Sudanese ambassador to Nigeria.

The ambassador said the condemnation was issued by the official spokesperson for the UN High Commissioner for Human Rights (UNHCR) in Geneva on Saturday.

“The ministry welcomes the statement issued by the official spokesperson for UNHCR in Geneva on June 24, which explicitly condemned the rebel Rapid Support Forces (RSF) for atrocities committed in West Darfur state,” stated the ministry. “The statement was supported by statements received by the Office of the High Commissioner from eyewitnesses in Adre, Chad.”

It added, “The eyewitnesses confirmed the Arab militias, backed by the leadership of the rebel RSF, targeted members of the Masalit tribe and ordered them to flee to Chad.”

According to the statement, the high commissioner for human rights also called on the RSF leadership to stop the killing of people fleeing El-Geneina, and other violence and hate speech against them based on their ethnicity.

“The ministry, while acknowledging the statement issued by a leading UN entity in the field of human rights, respectfully requests the international community and all international, regional, and semi-regional organisations to adopt the same approach,” it explained. “To strongly condemn the violations committed by the rebel Rapid Support militia against the Sudanese people.”

(NAN)