UN Warns: Violence in Sudan on the Brink of "Absolute Evil"

A senior UN official warned today, Friday, that violence against civilians in Sudan "is on the verge of becoming absolute evil," as the humanitarian crisis deepens and ethnic violence escalates in the Darfur region in the west. Clementine Nkweta Salami, the leading UN aid official in Sudan, told reporters: "We continue to receive horrifying reports without interruption of sexual and gender-based violence, cases of forced disappearances, arbitrary detentions, and severe violations of human rights and children's rights." She added: "What is happening is on the verge of becoming absolute evil. Protecting civilians remains a major concern." It was noted that approximately 25 million people, more than half of the population, are in need of humanitarian assistance and protection, and over six million have fled their homes and are displaced within Sudan or to neighboring countries. Nkweta Salami stated: "We have recently received alarming reports of escalating violence and attacks on civilians, including what appears to be ethnically-based violence in Darfur." Those who fled to Chad reported a new rise in cases of ethnically motivated killings in West Darfur after Rapid Support Forces took control of the main army base in Geneina, the capital of the state.