KHARTOUM, June 25 (Xinhua) -- The Sudanese Ministry of Foreign Affairs on Sunday welcomed the UN human rights chief's condemnation of atrocities carried out by the paramilitary Rapid Support Forces (RSF) in West Darfur State.
"The Ministry of Foreign Affairs welcomes the statement by the spokesperson of the UN High Commissioner for Human Rights in Geneva, which directly condemned the rebel militia regarding its atrocities in West Darfur State," the ministry said in a statement.
The ministry called on international and regional organizations to exert more pressure on the RSF by "condemning the violations it committed against the Sudanese people."
On Saturday, the Office of the High Commissioner for Human Rights (OHCHR) issued a statement calling for immediate action to end the killing of civilians who were fleeing El Geneina, the capital city of West Darfur State.
The statement said horrifying accounts of RSF-backed armed "Arab" militia killing people were heard from those fleeing El Geneina into Adre in Chad.
The OHCHR urged immediate action to halt the "wanton killings," adding that "people fleeing El Geneina must be guaranteed safe passage and humanitarian agencies allowed access to the area to collect the remains of those killed."
The statement calls on the RSF leadership to "immediately, unequivocally condemn and stop the killing of people fleeing El Geneina, and other violence and hate speech against them on the basis of their ethnicity."
According to the Sudanese Doctors Syndicate, more than 1,000 people were killed in El Geneina in attacks by armed militias.
Sudan has been witnessing deadly armed clashes between the Sudanese Armed Forces and the RSF in Khartoum and other areas since April 15, which left over 3,000 people dead and more than 6,000 injured, according to the Sudanese Health Ministry.
About 2.5 million people have been displaced inside and outside of Sudan, according to an OHCHR update on Wednesday.
