Condemns Use Of Lethal Force, UN Calls On Sudanese Military To End Violence Against Protesters

Illustration of the military anti-coup demonstration in Sudan. (Wikimedia Commons/Abbasher)

JAKARTA - The United Nations strongly condemns the use of live ammunition against military anti-coup protesters in Sudan, where 15 people were killed on Wednesday, the deadliest day of protests since the October 25 coup.

"It is disgraceful that live ammunition has been used again against taste visitors," said UN human rights chief Michelle Bachelet, citing France24 from AFP Friday, November 19.

Last Thursday, police fired tear gas to disperse dozens of anti-coup protesters who had been living on the streets of northern Khartoum, witnesses said, challenging an intensified crackdown that has drawn international condemnation.

Police tore down makeshift barricades that demonstrators had erected the day before. Later that day, dozens of protesters returned to rebuild them and police fired tear gas again in an attempt to clear the streets, witnesses said.

"The protesters responded by throwing stones at the police," said one of them.

Meanwhile, UN Special Rapporteur on Freedom of Association Clement Voule said he had "received alarming reports of the military's increased use of lethal force against peaceful protesters".

He called on the international community to "put pressure on Sudan to immediately stop the oppression of civilians and respect their rights".

As previously reported, at least 15 people were killed, mostly in northern Khartoum, doctors said, bringing the death toll since the coup to 39. In addition, dozens of other people were injured by live bullets when thousands of Sudanese took to the streets on Wednesday, the deadliest day in a month of demonstrations against military rule.

Security forces fired live ammunition and tear gas to prevent gatherings in the three cities, and cell phone communications were cut off, witnesses said. State television said there were injuries among protesters and police.

"Coup forces used live ammunition in various areas of the capital and there were dozens of gunshot wounds, some of them in serious condition," said the Central Committee of Sudanese Doctors, a group allied with the protest movement, citing Reuters Nov. 18.

"Deaths are concentrated in Bahri," they continued.

Meanwhile, police said they had recorded only one death among protesters in northern Khartoum. The other 30 suffered from breathing difficulties due to inhaling tear gas.