Sudanese rights group says 50,000 missing as war nears two-year mark

March 29, 2025 (KHARTOUM) – The Sudanese Group for Defending Rights and Freedoms said on Saturday it had documented the disappearance of 50,000 people since conflict erupted nearly two years ago.

The figure was released days after the army reportedly freed some 4,000 military personnel and civilians from detention centres run by the rival Rapid Support Forces (RSF) in the capital. The RSF had allegedly concentrated many detainees in the Jebel Aulia area south of Khartoum.

“The number of missing people has reached more than 50,000 since the war broke out on April 15, 2023, up to this March,” the group’s head, Al-Sadiq Ali Hassan, told the Sudan Tribune.

Most of the missing were registered in conflict-affected states like Khartoum, Sennar, White Nile, and the vast Darfur region, which comprises five states, Hassan said.

The Sudanese Group for Defending Rights and Freedoms comprises various organizations and networks monitoring human rights violations.

The RSF has detained thousands during the conflict, the group said. It alleged that some detainees were freed only after paying ransoms, while others died in detention due to hunger or lack of medical care. The fate of most remains unknown.

Hassan predicted that “shocking and unexpected facts” about violations against women and children, including rape, would emerge once the war ends.

Documenting cases of enforced disappearance is hampered by communication blackouts and difficulty accessing RSF-controlled areas, the group noted, suggesting the true number of missing is likely far higher than 50,000.