EU Urges Sudan to Investigate Violence Targeting Protesters

Sudanese demonstrators carry a wounded man during a protest demanding civilian rule in the "Street 40" of the Sudanese capital's twin city of Omdurman on January 4, 2022. (Photo by AFP)
Sudanese demonstrators carry a wounded man during a protest demanding civilian rule in the "Street 40" of the Sudanese capital's twin city of Omdurman on January 4, 2022. (Photo by AFP)
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EU Urges Sudan to Investigate Violence Targeting Protesters

Sudanese demonstrators carry a wounded man during a protest demanding civilian rule in the "Street 40" of the Sudanese capital's twin city of Omdurman on January 4, 2022. (Photo by AFP)
Sudanese demonstrators carry a wounded man during a protest demanding civilian rule in the "Street 40" of the Sudanese capital's twin city of Omdurman on January 4, 2022. (Photo by AFP)

The European Union has urged Sudanese leaders to investigate the violence targeting protestors in the country, following the October 25 military takeover.

“The EU reiterates the need for independent investigations into all deaths and associated violence, and calls for the perpetrators to be held accountable,” it tweeted on Friday.

“Attacks on hospitals, detentions of activists and journalists and communication blackouts, must also stop,” it added.

Sudanese security forces shot dead three protesters on Thursday during the latest mass demonstrations demanding a transition to civilian rule after a coup, medics said.

The latest killings bring to 60 the death toll in a security clampdown since the October 25 military takeover, said the Central Committee of Sudan Doctors, which is part of the pro-democracy movement.

Khartoum State’s health ministry said security forces raided Arbaeen Hospital in Omdurman, attacking medical staff and injuring protesters, and said the forces besieged Khartoum Teaching Hospital and fired tear gas inside it.

In a statement, Sudanese police said the demonstrations “witnessed a deviation from peacefulness and cases of aggression and violence by some demonstrators towards the forces present,” citing a number of injuries among police and armed forces.

The statement also said that three people had been arrested for the killing of two citizens in Omdurman and that 60 suspects were arrested overall.

The Forces of Freedom and Change coalition, which had been sharing power with the military before the coup, called on the United Nations Security Council to carry out an investigation on what it described as intentional killings and raids of hospitals.

In Khartoum, protesters tried to reach the presidential palace but security forces advanced toward them, firing frequent volleys of tear gas.

Some protesters wore gas masks, while many wore medical masks and other face coverings and several brought hard hats and gloves in order to throw back tear gas canisters.



G7 Leaders Endorse Israel-Hezbollah Ceasefire and Insist Israel Follow International Law

 From left, Ukrainian Foreign Minister Andrii Sybiha, US Secretary of State Antony Blinken, French Foreign Minister Jean-Noël Barrot, Canada's Foreign Minister Melanie Joly, Italian Foreign Minister Antonio Tajani, Japanese Foreign Minister Takeshi Iwaya, German Foreign Minister Annalena Baerbock, Britain's Foreign Office Political Director Christian Turner, and European Union foreign policy chief Josep Borrell pose for a family photo at the G7 of foreign Ministers in Fiuggi, some 70 kilometers south-east of Rome, Tuesday, Nov. 26, 2024. (AP)
From left, Ukrainian Foreign Minister Andrii Sybiha, US Secretary of State Antony Blinken, French Foreign Minister Jean-Noël Barrot, Canada's Foreign Minister Melanie Joly, Italian Foreign Minister Antonio Tajani, Japanese Foreign Minister Takeshi Iwaya, German Foreign Minister Annalena Baerbock, Britain's Foreign Office Political Director Christian Turner, and European Union foreign policy chief Josep Borrell pose for a family photo at the G7 of foreign Ministers in Fiuggi, some 70 kilometers south-east of Rome, Tuesday, Nov. 26, 2024. (AP)
TT

G7 Leaders Endorse Israel-Hezbollah Ceasefire and Insist Israel Follow International Law

 From left, Ukrainian Foreign Minister Andrii Sybiha, US Secretary of State Antony Blinken, French Foreign Minister Jean-Noël Barrot, Canada's Foreign Minister Melanie Joly, Italian Foreign Minister Antonio Tajani, Japanese Foreign Minister Takeshi Iwaya, German Foreign Minister Annalena Baerbock, Britain's Foreign Office Political Director Christian Turner, and European Union foreign policy chief Josep Borrell pose for a family photo at the G7 of foreign Ministers in Fiuggi, some 70 kilometers south-east of Rome, Tuesday, Nov. 26, 2024. (AP)
From left, Ukrainian Foreign Minister Andrii Sybiha, US Secretary of State Antony Blinken, French Foreign Minister Jean-Noël Barrot, Canada's Foreign Minister Melanie Joly, Italian Foreign Minister Antonio Tajani, Japanese Foreign Minister Takeshi Iwaya, German Foreign Minister Annalena Baerbock, Britain's Foreign Office Political Director Christian Turner, and European Union foreign policy chief Josep Borrell pose for a family photo at the G7 of foreign Ministers in Fiuggi, some 70 kilometers south-east of Rome, Tuesday, Nov. 26, 2024. (AP)

Foreign ministers from the world’s industrialized countries said Tuesday they strongly supported an immediate ceasefire between Israel and Hezbollah and insisted that Israel comply with international law in its ongoing military operations in the region.

At the end of their two-day summit, the ministers didn’t refer directly to the International Criminal Court and its recent arrest warrants for Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and his former defense minister over crimes against humanity.

Italy had put the ICC warrants on the official meeting agenda, even though the G7 was split on the issue. The US, Israel’s closest ally, isn’t a signatory to the court and has called the warrants “outrageous.”

However, the EU’s chief diplomat Josep Borrell said all the other G7 countries were signatories and therefore obliged to respect the warrants.

In the end, the final statement adopted by the ministers said Israel, in exercising its right to defend itself, “must fully comply with its obligations under international law in all circumstances, including international humanitarian law.”

And it said all G7 members — Canada, France, Germany, Italy, Japan, the United Kingdom and the United States – “reiterate our commitment to international humanitarian law and will comply with our respective obligations.” It stressed that “there can be no equivalence between the terrorist group Hamas and the State of Israel.”

The ICC warrants say there's reason to believe Netanyahu used “starvation as a method of warfare” by restricting humanitarian aid and intentionally targeted civilians in Israel’s campaign against Hamas in Gaza — charges Israeli officials deny.