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New demonstrations erupted in Khartoum on Saturday after the publication of an investigation that revealed that RSF paramilitaries were involved in a deadly raid in June with members of other security forces. Protesters want an independent investigation, saying the death toll was much higher than expected.
The protest group Sudanese Professionals Association, which is part of the opposition coalition, said that he had totally rejected the investigation.
"It was commanded by the military council (in power), this calls into question its integrity since the military council itself is accused in this case," said the group that launched the demonstrations against President Omar al-Bashir in December.
Bashir was ousted on April 11, but protesters continued the sit-in, demanding that the military council that replaced him give way to civilians.
Call for an independent inquiry
"We have called for an independent investigation and we reject the findings of this investigation," PSA leader Ismail al-Taj told reporters.
The joint investigation, conducted by prosecutors and the ruling military council, was set up to investigate the events of 3 June, when armed men in military uniform burst onto the site of a police station. several weeks sit-in outside the army headquarters.
Protesters and rights groups accused paramilitary rapid support forces of carrying out the crackdown during which they shot and beat protesters during an operation that also made hundreds injured.
The group's powerful leader, General Mohamed Hamdan Daglo, denied the charges.
The joint investigation revealed Saturday that paramilitary RSF were actually involved in the raid with members of other security forces.
Forces disobeyed orders
The prosecutor in charge of the investigation, Fatah al-Rahman Saeed, said the security forces had been ordered to clear an area called Colombia, near the protest camp.
But, he said, a RSF general had separately ordered a colonel to disperse the sit-in, although no such orders come up higher and higher in the chain of command.
"They led the forces … inside the area of occupation and ordered them to get off their vehicles and bad the protesters," Saeed told reporters.
Saeed gave the ranks and initials of eight officers accused of crimes against humanity punishable by death or life imprisonment under military law.
The SPA insists that the accused be identified by their full name rather than by their initials.
Number of deaths disputed
On the issue of the death toll, protest-related doctors said 127 people were killed in the June 3 raid, but Saeed made a smaller count on Saturday.
He said 17 people were killed on June 3, when 87 people died between that day and June 10.
Angry protesters rejected this information and the investigators concluded that "no case of rape" occurred during the sit-in, contrary to the many allegations of the protest movement.
The sit-in raid provoked the failure of talks between the leaders of the protest and the ruling generals in Sudan, who only resumed a few weeks later, after intense mediation by African Union and Ethiopian diplomats.
The two sides have now agreed to form a new civilian-military joint leadership body for a transition period of 39 months.
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