SUDAN FINDS MASS GRAVE LINKED TO DECEMBER REVOLUTION

The Sudanese prosecutor’s office on Wednesday announced the discovery of mass graves containing the bodies of people missing since the events of the popular uprising that overthrew Omar Al-Bashir nearly two years ago.

The public prosecutor’s office disclosed in a statement: “After efforts that lasted several months, the independent committee of enquiry discovered the mass graves.”

The statement confirmed: “The independent committee of inquiry will complete the exhumation and autopsy procedures after securing the site with the necessary measures to avoid tampering with evidence.”

“Investigations into the disappearances and enforced disappearances of persons since the events of the December 2018 revolution are continuing in full transparency in order to ensure the no-impunity principle,” the statement added.

The statement called on all competent agencies and the families of the missing to cooperate with the enquiry committee to complete its investigation.

In December 2018, popular protests erupted in Sudan against the difficult economic conditions, culminating in the removal of President Al-Bashir on 11 April, 2019.

The Central Committee of Sudan Doctors estimates that 38 persons have been reported missing since the outbreak of the revolution, according to local media.

The Sudanese Professionals Association (SPA), a major component of the Forces of Freedom and Change alliance (FFC), claim that hundreds of people have been the victims of enforced disappearances since the army headquarters sit-in was dispersed in the capital of Khartoum.

In June 2019, gunmen wearing military uniforms dispersed a sit-in calling for the transfer of power to civilians, in front of the army command headquarters in Khartoum.

The dispersal resulted in the deaths of 66 people according to the Ministry of Health, while the FFC, leader of the popular movement at the time, estimated the number at 128.