UN experts urge probe of violations against Sudan protesters

In this frame grab from video, people wait in line for bread outside a bakery in Khartoum, Sudan, Sunday, June 9, 2019. The first day of the workweek in Sudan saw shops closed and streets empty as part of a general strike called by protest leaders who are demanding the resignation of the ruling military council. The Sudanese Professionals Association had urged people to stay home to protest a deadly crackdown last week, when security forces violently dispersed the group’s main sit-in camp outside the military headquarters in the capital of Khartoum. (AP Photo)

KHARTOUM, Sudan – U.N. experts are concerned that Sudan is sliding into a "human rights abyss" in the aftermath of the Sudanese security forces' deadly break-up of the main protest sit-in in the capital, Khartoum.

The experts, appointed by the U.N. Human Rights Council, called on Wednesday for an independent investigation into violations against peaceful protesters in Sudan.

A statement from the experts says they're alarmed at reports of numerous deaths since June 3, when security forces violently dispersed the protesters outside the military headquarters in Khartoum.

The protesters were demanding the military speedily hand over power to civilian rule but the generals refused.

Following the bloody break-up, the protesters called off their general strike and civil disobedience campaign.

Since then, shops and businesses have reopened and there's more traffic on Khartoum streets.