Families of Sudan’s disappeared appeal to Red Cross, Burhan for help
July 31, 2025 (KHARTOUM) – Families of people detained or disappeared in Sudan’s conflict appealed on Thursday to the International Committee of the Red Cross (ICRC) to help locate their loved ones and urged Sovereign Council head Abdel Fattah al-Burhan to support a prisoner exchange initiative.
In a direct appeal to ICRC President Mirjana Spoljaric Egger, the families asked for intervention regarding prisoners of war and detainees held by the country’s warring factions.
“We ask for your urgent intervention and communication with all parties to determine the places of detention, document the health status of all detainees, and enable communication between families and detainees after an agonizing silence of 26 months,” the families said in the appeal.
They noted the disappeared include children separated from their families, women, elderly parents in deteriorating health, and military personnel who have been denied prisoner-of-war protections.
The families specifically accused the paramilitary Rapid Support Forces (RSF) of being responsible for the deaths of hundreds of detainees through torture, medical neglect, and inadequate food and water. They said the RSF had moved thousands of people, including army and police personnel, retired officers, and civilians, from prisons in Khartoum to detention centres in the Darfur region.
“We have suffered the agony of not knowing the fate of our loved ones for more than two years, whether they are alive, wounded, or held in inhumane conditions,” the families stated.
In a separate memo sent to General Burhan on July 26, the families called on the army chief to support a prisoner exchange through international organizations, led by the Red Cross.
“The exchange of prisoners… is a fundamental step towards calming the situation and opening doors of hope for a radical solution to the crisis,” the memo said, noting that thousands of families were in a “vortex of constant anxiety.”
They urged Burhan to back prisoner swap initiatives officially, facilitate coordination with international bodies, form a national committee for prisoners and the missing, and call on the RSF to disclose who it is holding.
In their appeal to the ICRC, the families offered to provide comprehensive lists of the missing and their medical records.
“We recall the historic role of the ICRC in global conflicts and implore you to extend this same commitment to Sudan,” the letter concluded. “There are 800 days of absence and unanswered questions that weigh on us with every sunset.”