Thousands held by paramilitary RSF in Sudan’s el-Fasher: NGO

Hundreds of women and children and dozens of doctors among those detained by the rebel group in poor conditions, says Sudan Doctors Network.

Thousands of people remain detained in poor conditions by the paramilitary Rapid Support Forces (RSF) in el-Fasher in western Sudan, according to a local NGO.

The Sudan Doctors Network said on Monday that 20 doctors, more than 1,470 civilians, and 907 military personnel are being held in “dire” conditions in multiple detention facilities in the city.

The paramilitary group the RSF has been accused of numerous crimes against humanity during the conflict in the West African nation that has now marked its third anniversary.

Until it fell to the RSF in late October, el-Fasher was the last stronghold of Sudan’s army in the sprawling western region of Darfur.

The RSF and the Sudanese Armed Forces (SAF) have been fighting a vicious civil war since April 2023, which has killed hundreds of thousands and displaced millions to create the “world’s worst humanitarian crisis”, according to the United Nations.

The NGO said in a statement that the RSF is reportedly committing “severe violations” inside the detention centres in el-Fasher, “including killings during torture and interrogation, as well as ethnically motivated killings”.

The group reports that 370 women and 426 children are among those held in facilities including Shalla Prison, a children’s hospital, and cargo containers.

The network warned that the captives “are subjected to grave abuses, including field executions” and suffering from injuries caused by shelling without receiving medical care.

The detention centres have faced a cholera outbreak since early February, with poor environmental conditions, a lack of clean water, and malnutrition making the spread of diseases more rampant.

The capture of the doctors, alongside a “critical” shortage of medical supplies, has debilitated the health sector, the NGO warned.

“The report highlights a clear link between the violence accompanying the city’s takeover and the subsequent collapse of humanitarian and health conditions”, said the Sudan Doctors Network.

There was no immediate comment from the RSF on the report.

In February, UN-backed experts said the paramilitary group has carried out “a coordinated campaign of destruction” against non-Arab communities in and around el-Fasher, the “hallmarks of which point to genocide”.

The civilian population also remains vulnerable to ongoing fighting. A Sudanese army strike on the Hamidiyah camp for displaced people near Zalingei, the capital of Central Darfur state, killed six people and wounded dozens more, according to a report from the Sudanese legal advocacy group Emergency Lawyers on Monday.

The civil society group said shells destroyed several homes inside the camp, which shelters thousands of displaced people, mostly women and children fleeing the fighting, and provides essential aid.

Sudan descended into conflict three years ago when a rivalry between army chief Abdel Fattah al-Burhan and RSF commander Mohamed Hamdan “Hemedti” Dagalo exploded into all-out war.