Sudanese authorities must grant human rights monitors access to the country and end "repression" against protesters and the shutdown of the Internet, UN human rights boss Michelle Bachelet said on Monday.
Bachelet, in a speech opening a three-week session of the UN Human Rights Council in Geneva, voiced deep concern over Sudan, which has been wracked by tensions between protest leaders and the generals who seized power after the army ousted long-time president Omar al-Bashir in April.
Sudan’s uprising “has been met with a brutal crackdown by the security forces this month,” Bachelet said.
Sudan’s ruling military council said on Sunday that Ethiopia and the African Union needed to unify their efforts to mediate between the council and an opposition coalition on the structure of the country’s transitional government.
The generals and the opposition have been wrangling for weeks over what form Sudan’s transitional government should take after Bashir's removal from power.
Bachelet cited reports that more than 100 people were killed and many more injured in a bloody breakup of a peaceful rally on June 3.
"We have received allegations of rape and sexual abuse of both women and men during the crackdown, as well as information alleging that hundreds of protestors may be missing," she said.
"I regret that the government has not responded to our request for access to investigate allegations of serious human rights violations by the joint security forces during the crackdown," she added.
Bachelet also called for Sudan to end a nationwide internet blockade.
