Press watchdogs, legal group demand RSF release female journalists and activists
March 16, 2026 (KHARTOUM) — International media watchdogs and a Sudanese legal aid group on Monday called on the Rapid Support Forces (RSF) to immediately release several female journalists and activists detained in South Darfur, amid growing reports of arbitrary arrests and enforced disappearances.
The Committee to Protect Journalists (CPJ) stated that RSF personnel arrested Nyala State Radio reporters Mawaheb Ibrahim and Zahraa Mohamed Al-Hassan, along with presenter Ishraqah Abdulrahman, on February 28. The journalists were seized in Nyala, the capital of South Darfur, after attending a workshop for female media professionals.
“The Rapid Support Forces must stop arbitrarily detaining members of the press,” said CPJ Regional Director Sara Qudah. “Detaining reporters only further restricts the flow of information from a conflict that remains severely underreported.”
According to local sources cited by CPJ, the women are being held at Korea prison in Nyala without formal charges or legal representation.
The emergency legal group “Emergency Lawyers” corroborated the reports, identifying additional detainees, including Dr Manahel Mustafa al-Sanousi and Izdehar Abdel Moneim Hamed. The group warned that the lack of a functioning judicial system in RSF-controlled areas leaves these women at high risk of torture and sexual violence.
CPJ noted that at least seven other journalists remain missing, while freelance reporter Muammar Ibrahim has been in RSF custody since October 2025.
The RSF has not officially commented on the detentions. Nyala currently serves as the headquarters for a parallel government formed by the “Taasis” coalition, which opposes the military-led sovereign council in Port Sudan.
The call for the detainees’ release comes as the Emergency Lawyers group faces its own internal crisis. On March 9, the group’s general assembly withdrew confidence from its executive office over a lack of transparency.
A new leadership body was elected on Monday, though the outgoing members have contested the decision, leading to a public rift over the control of the organization’s communication platforms.
Sudan has become one of the world’s most dangerous environments for journalists since the war between the Sudanese Armed Forces and the RSF erupted in April 2023, triggering a massive humanitarian catastrophe.