Mass Grave for Ex-Regime Conscripts Found in Sudan

The Nile River. AFP file photo
The Nile River. AFP file photo
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Mass Grave for Ex-Regime Conscripts Found in Sudan

The Nile River. AFP file photo
The Nile River. AFP file photo

Sudanese authorities have launched excavation efforts to search for more bodies of victims of Al Eifalun massacre, which took place 22 years ago.

Digging efforts are intended to reveal the number of bodies at the mass grave.

In January, Sudanese General Prosecutor Tag el-Sir el-Hibir formed a specialized investigative committee to look into the massacre that resulted in dozens of deaths and missing people.

The former Muslim Brotherhood regime used to capture youths in the streets of villages and towns and enroll them into military training camps.

One of those was the Al Eifalun camp where young men received three months of training before deploying to battlefronts against the Sudan People's Liberation Movement (SPLM).

The massacre dates back to 1998, when the forced conscripts at the Al Eifalun east of the capital, Khartoum, requested in vain that they be allowed to spend the Eid al-Adha holiday with their families.

Eye witnesses have said some of the recruits attempted to escape the camp in boats through the Blue Nile river. Some drowned while others were killed by camp guard fire.

So far, the authorities have dug up a mass grave with nine bodies at the Sahafa cemetery in Khartoum, a well-informed source told Asharq Al-Awsat.

The source, speaking on condition of anonymity, said that the authorities are looking to expand excavation works, but are inhibited by some marked graveyards near the unmarked AL Eifalun mass graves.

The authorities are seeking to identify the dug up bodies.

The source indicated that some of the families of the victims and missing persons in the Al Eifalun massacre gave statements and information to the investigative committee.

Initial data obtained by the committee indicates that 52 people were killed at Al Eifalun camp, the source said, adding that the figure could be much higher.



NGOs Seek UN Emergency Rights Meeting, Investigation on Israel's War on Lebanon

An excavator operates around a damaged building targeted by an Israeli airstrike, in the town of Barja, Chouf district, Mount Lebanon Governorate, Lebanon, 06 November 2024. (EPA)
An excavator operates around a damaged building targeted by an Israeli airstrike, in the town of Barja, Chouf district, Mount Lebanon Governorate, Lebanon, 06 November 2024. (EPA)
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NGOs Seek UN Emergency Rights Meeting, Investigation on Israel's War on Lebanon

An excavator operates around a damaged building targeted by an Israeli airstrike, in the town of Barja, Chouf district, Mount Lebanon Governorate, Lebanon, 06 November 2024. (EPA)
An excavator operates around a damaged building targeted by an Israeli airstrike, in the town of Barja, Chouf district, Mount Lebanon Governorate, Lebanon, 06 November 2024. (EPA)

A group of NGOs pressed countries on Wednesday to hold an emergency session of the United Nations Human Rights Council to set up an investigation into abuses committed by both sides of the Israel-Hezbollah conflict in Lebanon.

Israel and the Lebanese armed group Hezbollah have been fighting for more than a year, in parallel with Israel's war in Gaza, after Hezbollah began firing rockets at Israel in solidarity with its ally Hamas.

The Lebanon conflict has dramatically escalated since mid-September, with most of the more than 3,000 deaths reported by Lebanon since October 2023 occurring in that period.

In a letter to diplomatic missions, 12 NGOs including Human Rights Watch and Amnesty International urged states to act decisively over a situation "spiraling out of control", citing incidents such as Israeli strikes on civilian infrastructure such as homes and hospitals.

"There's a huge risk of the same types of atrocities occurring in Lebanon as in Gaza," said Jeremie Smith, Geneva Director of the Cairo Institute for Human Rights Studies, whose organization is leading the call.

"Entire towns are being levelled, thousands of people are being killed and injured and there's not a single investigation that has been opened by anyone, anywhere. We can't let that stand," he told Reuters.

The meeting is almost certain to obtain the required one-third of votes in the 47-member council but would need the support of Lebanon, which some diplomats said might have reservations about inviting scrutiny of Hezbollah's actions.

Lebanon's Geneva ambassador Salim Baddoura told Reuters a session was "possible" but that Beirut had yet to take a decision.

Debates addressing Israel's policies have in the past been controversial and current voting member the United States temporarily left the council in 2018 under then-President Donald Trump alleging anti-Israeli bias.

Such a meeting could also reignite allegations of double standards against Western states supportive of accountability for Russian violations in Ukraine since its 2022 invasion, but who maintain support for Israel.

Israel's military says it tries to avoid harming civilians but says Hamas and Hezbollah fighters hide among them.

The UN body does not have legally binding powers but it can mandate investigations to document abuses, which sometimes form the basis for war crimes prosecutions.