In Khartoum, exhumation of makeshift graves reawakens families’ grief

Khartoum, Sudan – Iman Abdel-Azim had to hide her member successful the courtyard of her location successful Khartoum North erstwhile helium died arsenic warring betwixt the Sudanese subject and the paramilitary Rapid Support Forces raged astir them.

Her neighbours had to assistance her hide him because  it was intolerable to entree cemeteries successful the fighting. She was not the lone nonmigratory of the superior region’s 3 cities – Khartoum, Khartoum North and Omdurman – who had to bash this.

Recommended Stories

• list 1 of 3Rights radical accuses RSF of systematic intersexual unit successful Sudan’s civilian war
• list 2 of 3South Sudan service to unafraid captious Heglig oilfield successful Sudan warfare spillover
• list 3 of 3UN main condemns ‘horrific’ drone onslaught successful Sudan arsenic 6 peacekeepers killed

After Khartoum State announced astatine the opening of December a large effort to exhume the remains of radical buried successful this makeshift mode and determination them to cemeteries, Abdel-Azim feels her grief has been renewed arsenic she relives the symptom of losing a loved one.

Organised campaign

State and section committees were formed to instrumentality the exhumations. They are made up of representatives from forensic medicine, Civil Defence, the Sudanese Red Crescent, and neighbourhood absorption and services committees.

Ahmed Abdel Rahman, enforcement manager of Khartoum North, told Al Jazeera that the run aims to alleviate the intelligence load connected families and amended the wellness and humanitarian concern successful the superior region.

According to Abdel Rahman, the run is being overseen by the High Committee for Collecting the Remains of Those Who Died During the Battle of Dignity.

The process volition unfold successful stages, the archetypal of which is identifying makeshift burial sites.

After that, families are notified and allowed to nominate a typical to beryllium progressive successful each step, from exhumation to burial.

Forensic medicine specialists volition supervise the exhumations and reburials successful cemeteries with afloat documentation of the remains.

The process of transferring these remains began arsenic aboriginal arsenic erstwhile the Sudanese service took power of Khartoum State, Hisham Zain al-Abidin, manager of the Forensic Medicine Authority successful Khartoum State, explained to Al Jazeera.

He affirmed that by the archetypal 4th of 2026, Khartoum and its 7 districts would beryllium escaped of immoderate makeshift graves.

However, helium added, the tract teams liable for the exhumations and reburials are facing a fig of challenges, including a shortage of assemblage bags, “which could impact the enactment being carried retired arsenic required”.

Forensic experts and the Sudanese Red Crescent exhume remains from makeshift graves  successful Khartoum’s al-Azhari connected August 2, 2025 [Ebrahim Hamid/AFP]

Sabotage

According to Zain al-Abidin, the Rapid Support Forces sabotaged the DNA units utilized to sphere samples from respective buried bodies, which has made it hard to place galore victims.

He said teams are numbering and documenting the burials of unidentified bodies, past burying them successful graves specifically for unidentified individuals.

He called connected stakeholders, organisations and citizens for assistance successful preparing the graves and stressed that the enactment up is extended and requires concerted efforts betwixt the authorities and citizens.

For her part, Shireen Al-Tayeb Nour Al-Daem, vice president of the Steering and Services Committee successful the Shambat neighbourhood of North Khartoum, told Al Jazeera that the committee had surveyed graves successful homes, mosques and nationalist squares successful respective neighbourhoods arsenic a preliminary measurement earlier the accomplishment of aesculapian teams and the commencement of exhumations and transfers of bodies.

Nour Al-Daem said the committee informs victims’ families to be and travel up connected the authoritative procedures with the ineligible and aesculapian teams until the transfers and burials are completed.

The committee is moving connected identifying and surveying the locations of makeshift graves, collecting information and communicating with families, Nour Al-Daem said, urging citizens to study the locations of makeshift graves truthful tract teams tin entree them.

When teams get to undertake the exhumations and reburials, the committee volition besides undertake the logistics and enactment for those teams. This includes coordinating betwixt the tract teams and the families of the deceased to guarantee the beingness of the household oregon a representative.

If nary relatives of the deceased are present, she added, the High Committee has instructed that the exhumation beryllium halted.

She indicated that the state needs further efforts to implicit reconstruction and rebuilding and what the committees are doing “paves the mode for a harmless situation for the instrumentality of citizens” contempt the trouble of radical experiencing a 2nd farewell to their loved ones.

The streets of Khartoum are besides filled with bodies that person not yet been buried, immoderate of which person decomposed, representing a situation to place them and dangers to nationalist health.