UN rights council to hold special session on Sudan

GENEVA — The United Nations Human Rights Council said Tuesday it would host a special session this week on the situation in Sudan following last week's military coup.

The session will take place on Friday starting at 12:30 pm (1130 GMT), the UN's top rights body said in a statement.

The decision came after Britain, the United States, Norway and Germany led dozens of other countries in a call Monday for an emergency council session on the rights situation in Sudan in the wake of the coup.

"The actions of the Sudanese military are a betrayal of the revolution, the transition, and the hopes of the Sudanese people," British Ambassador Simon Manley said in a tweet announcing the request for the special session.

On October 25, Sudan’s top general Abdel Fattah Al Burhan dissolved the cabinet as well as the ruling joint military-civilian Sovereign Council which had been heading Sudan’s transition towards full civilian rule following the 2019 overthrow of autocrat Omar Al Bashir.

In a move widely condemned internationally, Burhan declared a state of emergency and detained Sudan’s civilian leadership, including Prime Minister Abdalla Hamdok and members of his government.

Tens of thousands of people turned out across the country for demonstrations on Saturday against the coup.

At least three people were shot dead and more than 100 wounded during Saturday’s demonstrations, according to medics, who said at least 12 people had been killed since the coup.

Police forces denied the killings, or using live rounds.

Some 50 countries have backed the request for the special council session, including 18 of the Human Rights Council’s 47 member states, among them the government of Sudan, ousted in the coup.