Over 100 Darfurians unlawfully held by RSF in Sudan’s remote prisons

September 20, 2022 (KHARTOUM) – At least 109 people are illegally detained by the Rapid Support Forces (RSF) in Port Sudan prison in the Red Sea state, an advocacy group said on Monday.

The Darfur Lawyers Association revealed that the detainees were deported from North and West Darfur states to the prison of Port Sudan.

Over the past three years, the government of West Darfur arrested tribal members over the inter-communal clashes. Some of them were taken into custody in Khartoum and Port Sudan, while others were released later on.

The security forces invoked security reasons to justify their arrest and placed them without trial at the Al-Huda prison of Omdurman before moving some of them to Port Sudan.

In a statement extended to Sudan Tribune, the Committee for the Defence of the Detainees of the Two States and the Darfur Lawyers Association said they “visited the detention facilities to assess the prison conditions and treatment of prisoners of 109 detainees held under the emergency provisions”.

Among the detainees, there’s a high school teacher, Mohamed Ahmed Abdel Karim, who was arrested last May fin Krink district in West Darfur state. He was tortured and deported along with 108 others after their arrest.

Also, the extrajudicial detention operation enforced by the RSF troops, also, included an epilepsy patient and another man arrested with four of his sons.

The advocacy groups further said that the detainees were subjected to serious human rights violations in military intelligence buildings before being transferred to Port Sudan by the RSF.

West Darfur State witnessed tribal conflicts that claimed the lives of many people. Also, thousands were displaced to the state capital El-Geneina, while others fled to refugee camps in Chad.

The SRF fighters in Darfur who are generally from the Arab tribes are accused of fighting alongside their tribe.

(ST)