EU Urges Sudan to Investigate Violence Targeting Protesters

Arab World

January 8th, 7:32am

Khartoum - Asharq Al-Awsat

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.

from Asharq AL-awsat https://english.aawsat.com/home/article/3402191/eu-urges-sudan-investigate-violence-targeting-protesters