KHARTOUM, Oct. 21 (Xinhua) -- A Sudanese human rights group on Saturday said 715 people forcibly disappeared during the ongoing conflict between the Sudanese Armed Forces (SAF) and the paramilitary Rapid Support Forces (RSF).
The Sudanese Group for Victims of Enforced Disappearance said in a report that "715 civilians had been forcibly disappeared in Sudan during six months of war between the SAF and RSF."
The report monitored violations including kidnapping, detention, and disappearance of people from April 15 to October 15, and includes the capital Khartoum and other cities.
The report counted the disappearance of 666 males, 650 of whom were adults and 16 minors, while 49 females, 47 of whom were adults and 2 were minors.
Khartoum recorded the highest number of 309 disappearances cases, with 156 in Omdurman, 130 in Bahri, and other cases in North Kordofan State, South Darfur State, North Darfur, West Darfur State and Central Darfur State, while the locations of 110 cases within the scope of the conflict-hit states could not be pinned, added the report.
In February 2021, during the government of former Prime Minister Abdalla Hamdok, Sudan ratified the Convention against Torture and the International Convention for the Protection of all Persons from Enforced Disappearance, but the procedures of joining the conventions and the attached protocols concerned with forming a protection mechanism have not been completed.
Sudan has been witnessing deadly clashes between the SAF and the RSF in Khartoum and other areas since April 15, resulting in at least 3,000 deaths and more than 6,000 injuries, according to figures released by the Sudanese Health Ministry.
According to the UN International Organization for Migration (IOM), nearly 5.8 million people have been displaced inside and outside Sudan due to the prolonged conflict between the SAF and the RSF. ■