Sudan activists denounce RSF’s ‘arbitrary detention’ of El Midan editor-in-chief

Haisam Dafallah, editor-in-chief of El Midan, the official mouthpiece of the Communist Party of Sudan (CPoS), remains in continued detention by the paramilitary Rapid Support Forces (RSF) for the third consecutive day. His detention has drawn widespread condemnation from a chorus of Sudanese activists expressing deep concern over the matter.

According to Fathi Fadul, the spokesperson for the CPoS, the RSF stormed Dafallah’s residence in El Jereif Gharb, eastern Khartoum, apprehending both Haisam Dafallah and his brother Omer Dafallah on Friday afternoon.

The RSF reportedly revisited the residence in the evening, confiscating electronic devices belonging to everyone present in the home, as reported by the Darfur Bar Association (DBA).

Fadul issued a strong plea for the immediate release of the editor-in-chief and urged human rights organisations, the international press, and other Communist and labour initiatives to express solidarity in the face of Haisam’s arbitrary detention.

In a statement by the Sudanese Journalists Syndicate (SJS), they also expressed their deep concern and demanded the RSF to immediately release Haisam.

The Sudanese National Commission for Human Rights called on the RSF to release not only Haisam and his brother, but all other detainees, and sternly urged the paramilitary group to cease such violations against civilians.

As previously reported by Radio Dabanga, the SJS strongly denounced a previous RSF raid into the El Midan newspaper offices in Khartoum II, destroying valuable files, records, and equipment, on May 31 last year.

Dozens of human rights violations against journalists and other press workers have been reported in Sudan since the war began on April 15.

Radio Dabanga, in cooperation with 17 other news outlets issued a joint plea in mid-August last year, to address the critical state of press freedom in Sudan.