Journalists Condemn RSF Gezira violations
Sudan Events/Follow-ups
The Sudanese Journalists Syndicate (SJS) has condemned the practices of the Rapid Support militia (RSF) which have been targeting defenseless people and intimidating civilians.
The Syndicate said in a statement on Tuesday that the RSF and their allied militias continued their series of horrific violations in the villages and hamlets of Gezira State. It added that, according to press reports and eyewitness testimonies, the invasion of the state and its capital, Medani, resulted in large-scale killings, looting, and enforced disappearances, with crimes being monitored and recorded, against women and children, among other behaviors that amount to war crimes.
The statement also added that, in another violation of local laws and international humanitarian laws, the reports made through reliable media and survivors’ accounts painted a field picture of other methods of intimidation that include violating freedom of movement of civilians and the prevention them from leaving dangerous areas as well as taking civilians as human shields.
The Sudanese Journalists Syndicate denounced these practices in general and warned against the consequences of terrorizing the defenseless, as they have become a distinctive feature of these militias in most of the towns and regions to which the first units of their forces reached.
The Sudanese Journalists Syndicate (SJS) expressed its deep concern about the conditions of its members in the ravages and afflicted hamlets, calling on international organizations and the international community to put pressure on the RSF in order to provide safe passages immediately and unconditionally for hundreds of thousands of women, children and the elderly stranded in danger areas.
The Syndicate renewed its call to the United Nations, international organizations, the International Federation of Journalists, the Union of African Journalists, the Union of Arab Journalists, Reporters Without Borders, the International Press Institute, and sisterly and friendly press unions to do their best level to reflect this situation help ending these practices.
