Skip to content
Menu

Bachelet condemns the excessive use of force against protesters in Sudan  

Less than 1 minuteReading Time: Minutes

News briefing 

Translated and edited by: Committee for Justice

Geneva: November 21, 2021

The United Nations High Commissioner for Human Rights, Michelle Bachelet, has condemned the killing of at least 39 people by security forces in Sudan since the military coup on October 25, 15 of whom were reportedly shot dead last Wednesday alone during protests in Khartoum, Khartoum-Bahri and Omdurman.

Unnecessary and disproportionate use of force: 

“Following our repeated appeals to the military and security authorities to refrain from the use of unnecessary and disproportionate force against demonstrators, it is utterly shameful that live ammunition was again used yesterday against protesters,” Bachelet said in a statement published by the Human Rights Council’s media centre in Geneva.

“Shooting into large crowds of unarmed demonstrators, leaving dozens dead and many more injured, is deplorable, clearly aimed at stifling the expression of public dissent, and amounts to gross violations of international human rights law,” Bachelet added.

According to reliable medical sources, more than 100 people were injured during the protests on Wednesday, 80 of them were shot in the top of their bodies and heads, and tear gas was used extensively. There were also reports of arrests before, during and after the demonstrations, while the Sudanese police issued a statement saying 89 officers were also wounded.

Total shutdown of communications and Internet: 

The military authority also imposed a complete shutdown of telephone and mobile communications throughout the country, in addition to the continued shutdown of Internet services, which effectively cut off Sudan from the world, while only satellite links continued to work.

Commenting on this, Bachelet said: “A communication shutdown means people are unable to call for ambulances to treat injured protesters, families are unable to check on the safety of their loved ones, and hospitals are unable to reach doctors as emergency rooms filled up, to name just a few very real and serious consequences. Blanket Internet and telecommunications shutdowns violate core principles of necessity and proportionality and contravene international law.”

The High Commissioner clarified that since the military coup, journalists, especially those believed to be critical of the authorities, have been targeted, arbitrarily arrested and assaulted while covering the press, and security forces have raided their homes and offices, and there is worrying information that armed assailants in plain clothes have attempted abduction of journalists.

“With the Internet shutdowns, the role of journalists in getting essential information out on the current situation is particularly crucial, but I fear the increasingly hostile environment against them may lead to self-censorship and further threaten media pluralism and independence,” Bachelet said.

Calls for the release of detainees and the accountability of those responsible: 

The High Commissioner urged the Sudanese authorities to immediately release all those detained for exercising their rights to freedom of expression and peaceful assembly, as well as all political actors detained.

Concluding her statement, Bachelet stressed the need to hold accountable members of the security forces and political and military leaders responsible for the unnecessary and disproportionate use of force against protesters in line with international human rights law and standards and to ensure that health care workers are not targeted to provide medical care to injured protesters, and not to hinder their essential work.

For more information and media requests or inquiries, please get in touch with us (+41229403538 / media@cfjustice.org)

Subscribe to our Newsletter!

Be the first to get our latest Publication