UN Report Highlights Arbitrary Detention and Torture Patterns in Sudan Conflict
A UN report reveals widespread arbitrary detention, torture, and ill-treatment by both RSF and SAF in Sudan since April 2023. Tens of thousands face severe conditions, including women and children. The report underscores ethnic discrimination and enforced disappearances, calling for immediate action and international engagement to uphold human rights and dignity.
A recent report published by the United Nations High Commissioner for Human Rights reveals a troubling pattern of arbitrary detention, torture, and ill-treatment perpetrated by both the Rapid Support Forces (RSF) and the Sudanese Armed Forces (SAF) in Khartoum State. Since the onset of conflict in April 2023, tens of thousands, including women and children, have been detained without charges, experiencing limited family contact and squalid living conditions in overcrowded facilities.
UN High Commissioner for Human Rights, Volker Türk, expressed deep concern over the report’s findings, emphasizing that no individual should face deprivation of liberty without due process or endure any form of torture or cruel treatment. The report, covering the conflict’s progression from April 15, 2023, to June 2024, draws from interviews with 34 former detainees, witnesses, and their family members.
Eyewitness accounts within the report detail severe torture and inhumane treatment, with detainees facing frequent beatings, serious overcrowding, lack of sanitation, and insufficient access to food and water. In the RSF facilities, instances of children as young as 14 acting as guards and the detention of minors alongside adults were highlighted, along with reports of sexual violence against female detainees.
Ethnic discrimination has also been documented. Detainees in both RSF and SAF-controlled areas reported being targeted based on their ethnicity and presumed affiliations. Specifically, detainees from the Darfur and Kordofan regions reportedly faced harsher treatment and profiling. The report additionally raises serious concerns about enforced disappearances, illustrated by a family’s distressing experience of receiving no information about their detained relative, only to later learn of his death.
Although the focus remains on detention practices in Khartoum, similar distressing patterns have been noted across other regions of Sudan, including Darfur and Al Jazirah State. Recent reports indicate that detainees are being transferred from identified detention sites to undisclosed locations, which exacerbates the risk of human rights violations.
Commissioner Türk urged an immediate cessation of these inhumane practices, improvements in detention conditions, and facilitation of access to justice for detainees. The international community was also called upon to engage with involved parties to combat widespread human rights abuses, including arbitrary detention and torture.
Highlighting the ongoing issue of impunity, a previous report in January pointed out that such entrenched practices escalate human rights violations amid the ongoing conflict. It noted the impact of these violations on civilian populations and emphasized the need for a comprehensive international strategy for accountability and control over arms supplies. Both SAF and RSF were approached for comments but have consistently denied any systemic misuse of power, attributing incidents to isolated misbehaviors by individuals with promises to investigate.
The UN report elucidates a grave situation regarding human rights in Sudan, particularly concerning arbitrary detention and torture by the RSF and SAF. The documented abuses underscore the urgent need for accountability and an end to impunity for human rights violations. Immediate actions from both the conflicting parties and the international community are essential to address these issues comprehensively and restore fundamental human rights in Sudan.
Original Source: www.dabangasudan.org
