Civilian Groups Demand Int’l Intervention to Stop Violations in Sudan

Smoke billows from fighting in Khartoum, Sudan. (AFP file)
Smoke billows from fighting in Khartoum, Sudan. (AFP file)
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Civilian Groups Demand Int’l Intervention to Stop Violations in Sudan

Smoke billows from fighting in Khartoum, Sudan. (AFP file)
Smoke billows from fighting in Khartoum, Sudan. (AFP file)

The Sudanese Coordination of Civil Democratic Forces (Tagadum) condemned on Tuesday the army’s series of strikes on a number of regions in the country that left nearly 500 people dead.

The military carried out raids on the central city of al-Hasaheisa in the al-Jazirah state, Hamra al-Sheikh in North Kordofan, and Kutum and Mellit in North Darfur. Meanwhile, the Rapid Support Forces (RSF) fired artillery at the army-held region of al-Hatana in Omdurman.

The Emergency Lawyers group said around 100 people, including women and children, were killed in the army raids on al-Hasaheisa.

It strongly condemned the strikes on al-Jazirah, Sennar, White Nile, West and North Darfur and North Kordofan, deeming the continued attacks a war crime and flagrant violation of international humanitarian law.

It called on the international community to intervene immediately to stop the violations, save civilian lives and pressure the army to stop targeting markets and other civilian areas.

The army says it is targeting RSF locations. The RSF, meanwhile, says it is using artillery to attack army units. However, witnesses and videos shot by the people, contradict the claims, with the recordings showing the corpse of women, children and the elderly in areas that are being targeted by the warring parties.

The National Umma Party, one of Sudan’s largest parties, slammed in a statement on Tuesday the “horrific” violations in the war, demanding the army and RSF to fulfill their past commitments – a reference to the Jeddah Humanitarian Declaration signed in May 2023 through Saudi and American mediation.

Tagadum regretted that the warring parties continue to target civilians, calling on them to “seriously and sincerely” return to negotiations to end the war and suffering of the people.



Lebanon to Cooperate with Interpol on Arrest of Syrian Official Accused of War Crimes

Lebanese caretaker Prime Minister Najib Mikati speaks during a press conference with Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan, after their meeting at the Presidential Palace in Ankara, Türkiye, 18 December 2024. (EPA)
Lebanese caretaker Prime Minister Najib Mikati speaks during a press conference with Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan, after their meeting at the Presidential Palace in Ankara, Türkiye, 18 December 2024. (EPA)
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Lebanon to Cooperate with Interpol on Arrest of Syrian Official Accused of War Crimes

Lebanese caretaker Prime Minister Najib Mikati speaks during a press conference with Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan, after their meeting at the Presidential Palace in Ankara, Türkiye, 18 December 2024. (EPA)
Lebanese caretaker Prime Minister Najib Mikati speaks during a press conference with Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan, after their meeting at the Presidential Palace in Ankara, Türkiye, 18 December 2024. (EPA)

Lebanese caretaker Prime Minister Najib Mikati said on Monday Lebanon will cooperate with an Interpol request to arrest former Syrian intelligence officer Jamil Hassan, accused by US authorities of war crimes under the toppled Assad government.

Last week, Lebanon received an official notice from Interpol urging judicial and security authorities to detain Hassan, whose whereabouts remain unclear, if he is found on Lebanese soil, three Lebanese judicial sources told Reuters.

"We are committed to cooperating with the Interpol letter regarding the arrest of the Director of Syrian Air Force Intelligence, as we continue to cooperate on all matters related to the international system," Mikati told Reuters.

The directive also called for Hassan's arrest if he enters Lebanon, with the ultimate aim of extraditing him to the United States, the sources said.

On Dec. 9, a US indictment unsealed charges against Hassan, 72, with war crimes, including the torture of detainees, some of them US citizens, during the Syrian civil war.

Hassan is also one of three senior Syrian officials who were found guilty by a French court in May of war crimes over their involvement in the disappearance and subsequent death of a French-Syrian father and his son.

According to Lebanese judicial sources, the Interpol arrest warrant accuses Hassan of involvement in "crimes of murder, torture, and genocide."

Hassan is also allegedly responsible for overseeing the deployment of thousands of barrel bombs against the Syrian population, leading to the deaths of countless civilians, the sources said.

The Interpol request was circulated among Lebanon’s General Security and border control authorities.

Up to 30 lower-ranking former intelligence and Fourth Division army officers under the Assad administration are now in police custody in Lebanon following their arrest by Lebanese authorities, two security sources told Reuters.