GENEVA – Sudan’s warring parties are increasingly employing arbitrary detention, torture and enforced disappearance to control the country’s embattled population, contributing to a catastrophic protection crisis for civilians that has intensified as the conflict persists well into its fourth year, the Fact-Finding Mission on Sudan warned today.
In an update to the Human Rights Council, the Mission said that widespread violations of international human rights law, international humanitarian law and war crimes committed by Sudanese Armed Forces (SAF), the Rapid Support Forces (RSF), and their respective allies show no sign of stopping. Such grave acts may also constitute crimes against humanity.
“Civilians continue to bear the overwhelming burden of this conflict,” said the Mission’s Chair, Mohamed Chande Othman. “They are subjected not only to direct attacks and violence but also to a growing system of repression, arbitrary detention and fear that has penetrated every aspect of life. Unless reversed, these patterns will further erode protection and deepen Sudan’s human rights catastrophe.”
Movement Criminalised and Civilians Forced to Demonstrate Loyalty
The Mission has documented a systematic pattern of mass and arbitrary detention by both the SAF and the RSF targeting individuals perceived to be affiliated with, or sympathetic to, the opposing side. Individuals are routinely detained by both parties on allegations of collaboration, often under harsh conditions, and without legal basis, due process guarantees, or judicial oversight.
Individuals attempting to travel between areas controlled by different parties face risks. Many are detained at checkpoints, ill-treated, or accused of supporting the opposing side.
Those who refuse to do so may face prolonged detention, torture, enforced disappearance, or death. Those targeted include journalists, human rights defenders, humanitarian workers, political activists, religious and community leaders, civil society actors, traders, ordinary civilians and family members of combatants.
“In effect, movement itself has been criminalised,” said Expert Member Joy Ngozi Ezeilo. “Civilians are increasingly pressured to demonstrate loyalty and, in some cases, actively align themselves with one of the warring parties as a condition for their safety, freedom and economic survival. Parties to the conflict must ensure that civilians can move safely without fear of arrest, retaliation or coercion.”
Extortion and Ransom Demands
The Mission has also documented a pattern of detention followed by coercion and extortion by the RSF in which families are instructed to pay substantial sums of money – in some cases as much as 25 million Sudanese pounds or around 40,000 US dollars – in exchange for the release of detained relatives.
The wider impact on civilian life has been profound. Traders whose livelihoods depend on crossing front lines face acute risks of abduction, further undermining already fragile local economies and exacerbating food insecurity in areas such as El Fasher, El Obeid, Dilling and Kadugli.
These practices have imposed devastating economic and psychological burdens on families already struggling under the effects of conflict and displacement, feeding into an illicit war economy, and amounting to the crime of hostage taking.
Humanitarian Workers Among Those Disappeared by the RSF
The Mission expressed particular concern over the arrest of at least 70 individuals in El Geneina during May 2026 by RSF military intelligence. Those detained reportedly included humanitarian workers. They have not been heard from since.
The RSF has not disclosed their whereabouts or legal status, nor has it allowed family members or lawyers to visit. This wave of arrests follows a pattern of similar campaigns in areas under RSF control, often accusing detainees of collaborating with or providing intelligence to the SAF and its allies. Many of those arrested are subsequently transferred to detention facilities in Nyala for further investigation, kept under harsh conditions and subjected to torture.
“The enforced disappearance of humanitarian workers is criminal and raises particularly serious concerns. No family should be left in silence and uncertainty while searching for loved ones,” Expert Member Mona Rishmawi stated. “Such actions undermine humanitarian operations and further endanger civilians dependent on life-saving assistance. When the rights of those providing humanitarian relief are violated, entire communities are affected.”
Political Opponents, Lawyers and Journalists Targeted by the SAF
The Mission also documented continued harassment, arrest and detention by the SAF of civilian leaders, political opponents, lawyers, human rights defenders, humanitarian workers, and journalists suspected of collaborating with the RSF. Many are reportedly detained for their previous leadership roles in grassroots movements, tribal affiliation, family ties, or political views.
Journalists and independent information providers have also been affected through harassment, detention, and restrictions on internet access, limiting the flow of independent information during a period of acute crisis.
The Mission has received credible reports of serious due process violations, including significant delays in access to courts and fair trial guarantees, restricted access to legal counsel, coercion to confess, and instances in which individuals were reportedly prosecuted again following acquittal for the same conduct.
Among the cases documented by the Mission is that of a lawyer from Sinja known for defending political detainees and victims of repression. Following the RSF takeover of Sinja, the lawyer established a medical unit providing free treatment; when Sinja fell to the SAF, the lawyer was subsequently arrested, allegedly tortured by members of the SAF-allied Al-Baraa Bin Malik brigade, then sentenced to death by the Sinnar Criminal Court on 5 October 2025. Proceedings were conducted without notifying defence counsel, while one of the accused’s defence lawyers was himself arrested.
Detention Conditions by Both Sides Threaten Lives
The Mission has gathered credible information indicating that detention conditions under both parties are often harsh, inhumane and pose a serious and immediate threat to the lives and physical integrity of detainees. Detainees are commonly held in overcrowded facilities lacking adequate food, clean water, medical care and sanitation and exposed to diseases like cholera. Many are held incommunicado, heightening the risk of enforced disappearance.
Detainees held by the SAF described being electrocuted, severely beaten, stripped to their underwear during interrogations, and denied medical treatment. These practices occur in military intelligence facilities, undisclosed SAF detention sites and official prisons alike, such as the Port Sudan Central Prison.
Numerous testimonies describe severe conditions in the Soba Prison in Khrtoum when it was run by the RSF. Nyala Prison in South Darfur, currently under RSF control, appears particularly notorious. Thousands of detainees are reportedly held in this facility, including many transferred from El Fasher and other RSF-controlled areas. Severe overcrowding, inadequate medical care, widespread physical violence, and detention conditions incompatible with human dignity are widely reported to the Mission. There is a high risk of disappearances given the lack of legal processes and denial of family and lawyers’ visits.
The Mission received credible reports that detainees held by both parties have been subjected to coercive interrogations and severe mistreatment, including beatings, sexual violence, and other forms of physical and psychological abuse. In numerous instances, such treatment reportedly resulted in death. It is particularly concerned about widespread and systematic sexual violence perpetrated by the RSF against women and girls, and reports of sexualised torture against men detained by the SAF.
Humanitarian workers and human rights groups have been systematically denied access to detention facilities by both parties. The absence of independent verification of conditions facilitates violations, deepens the suffering of families searching for information about loved ones, and exacerbates concerns regarding missing persons and the disappeared.
The Mission urges all parties to:
- Immediately cease arbitrary arrest and detention;
- Release all individuals detained on political grounds or without legal basis;
- Ensure humane treatment and due process guarantees for all detainees;
- Grant full and unimpeded access to detention facilities to independent bodies;
- Disclose the fate, whereabouts and legal status of all detained persons;
- Officially acknowledge and record all detentions; and
- Ensure regular and meaningful contact between detainees, their families and legal representatives.
The Mission stressed that addressing impunity for arbitrary detention, torture and enforced disappearances risks encouraging further violations, is essential for preventing further atrocities and increasing the prospects of peaceful resolution to the conflict. It reiterates its call for support for victims, cooperation with the International Criminal Court, the expansion of its jurisdiction beyond Darfur, the establishment of an independent international judicial mechanism working in close cooperation with the ICC, the systematic collection and preservation of evidence for future criminal proceedings, and targeted sanctions.
“The scale and gravity of these violations, which are not isolated incidents but part of broader patterns of abuse, underscore the urgent need for accountability and concerted international action to prevent further atrocities,” Othman said.
