Sudanese lawyers demand release of miners held without charge for months
October 2, 2025 (ABU HAMAD) – Sudanese lawyers on Thursday demanded that authorities release five miners arrested last April from a civilian mining site in the northern city of Abu Hamad without facing any charges.
Sudanese authorities are detaining hundreds of individuals on suspicion of collaborating with or belonging to the Rapid Support Forces (RSF). Those proven to be involved are brought to trial, while others are released during the investigation phase.
In a joint statement, the Sudanese Group for the Defence of Rights and Freedoms and the Darfur Bar Association identified the detainees as Badr al-Din Ahmed, Ibrahim Adam, Musa Amin, Ahmed Suleiman, and Abu al-Qasim Ahmed, who were arrested on April 26.
The men were arrested at civilian mining mills in Abu Hamad and later transferred to Atbara without any criminal proceedings. They were subsequently returned to a police detention centre in Abu Hamad.
The statement called on the Public Prosecution to secure their immediate release while preserving their right to take legal action against those who arrested them. It noted the men were detained without evidence of any crime, based only on the suspicion of being “unfamiliar faces.”
Opponents of the Sudanese government use the term “unfamiliar faces law” to challenge the legality of such detentions, although no formal law with this name exists.
Ahmed Adam Ibrahim, the father of detainee Badr al-Din, told Sudan Tribune that his son and four others from North Darfur were arrested on April 24 under the pretext of collaborating with the RSF.
He said that investigations by law enforcement failed to prove any connection to the RSF, calling their continued detention unlawful and unjust.
Ibrahim added that the detainees are in deteriorating health, some unable to stand, due to the lengthy and harsh detention conditions and the denial of medical care.
Mohammed Salah al-Din, a member of the “Emergency Lawyers” group, confirmed to Sudan Tribune that no law called “unfamiliar faces” exists. He described the term as a reference to discriminatory practices and security policies, including arbitrary arrests and systematic exclusion of certain tribal and political groups, that have emerged since the conflict began on April 15, 2023.
While numerous courts have acquitted individuals accused of cooperating with the RSF, dozens of others have been sentenced to death or life imprisonment.