Human Rights Watch (HRW) on Thursday (August 29, 2024) accused both sides in Sudan’s more than 16-month conflict of committing war crimes including summary executions, torture and the mutilation of dead bodies.

Since April 2023, Sudan’s army, led by de facto ruler Abdel Fattah al-Burhan, has been locked in a devastating war with the paramilitary Rapid Support Forces (RSF) that has killed tens of thousands and displaced millions.

The New York-based rights group said its analysis of social media images indicated mass executions of at least 40 people, alongside the torture and ill-treatment of 18 detainees.

It said nine of the 20 videos analysed showed the mutilation of at least eight dead bodies, mostly by people in military uniforms, though some were in plainclothes.

“In all the incidents, detainees appear to be unarmed, posing no threat to their captors, and in several they are restrained,” HRW said.

“Forces from Sudan’s warring parties feel so immune to punishment that they have repeatedly filmed themselves executing, torturing, and dehumanising detainees, and mutilating bodies,” said Mohamed Osman, HRW’s Sudan researcher.

“These crimes should be investigated as war crimes and those responsible, including commanders of these forces, should be held to account,” he added.