UN High Commissioner for Human Rights: ‘Widespread pattern of detention, torture, and ill-treatment by both sides in Sudan war’

A UN report published on Thursday highlights a widespread pattern of arbitrary detention, torture, and ill-treatment of detainees by the Rapid Support Forces (RSF) and the Sudanese Armed Forces (SAF) in Khartoum State, “mirroring* practices seen in other conflict-affected areas in Sudan”. The report of the United Nations High Commissioner for Human Rights, underscores: “Tens of thousands of people, including women and children, have been held without charge, with limited or even no contact with their families, in squalid and overcrowded facilities, since the conflict broke out in April 2023.“

UN High Commissioner for Human Rights Volker Türk: The widespread practices of arbitrary detention, torture and ill-treatment of detainees, and inhumane conditions of detention facilities, in contravention of international norms and standards, are deeply disturbing.

“No individual should be deprived of their liberty without due process, nor – under any circumstances whatsoever – subjected to torture or other cruel, inhuman, or degrading treatment or punishment.”

The report, which covers the period from the start of the conflict on 15 April 2023 through June 2024, is based on 34 interviews with former detainees, witnesses and family members, who recounted their experiences to UN Human Rights.

‘No individual should be deprived of their liberty without due process, nor – under any circumstances whatsoever – subjected to torture or other cruel, inhuman, or degrading treatment or punishment…’ – UN High Commissioner for Human Rights Volker Türk

Torture

Former detainees shared credible accounts of harrowing torture and ill treatment, including severe and frequent beatings, in detention facilities. They described acute  overcrowding with minimal ventilation, limited access to sanitation and inadequate food and water. They also described seeing many detainees die in custody, due to lack of medical treatment, in both RSF and SAF facilities.

The report documents the use of children as young as 14 to serve as guards by RSF, notably in Soba prison, and the detention of children as young as 13 alongside adults. Sexual violence and exploitation against women detainees were reported in two RSF-controlled places of detention.

Ethnic discrimination

Additionally, in both RSF and SAF-controlled places of detention, detainees reported discriminatory treatment based on ethnicity and perceived affiliation to the opposing party to the conflict, with individuals from the Darfur and Kordofan regions targeted.

In RSF facilities, individuals from African tribes were reportedly subjected to more frequent torture and ill-treatment. Individuals from Darfur and Kordofan, including those from Arab tribes, were allegedly profiled and detained in SAF facilities on the basis of their ethnicity and perceived affiliation with the RSF.

The report also features testimonies about people who were reportedly detained incommunicado in RSF and SAF controlled facilities. In RSF-controlled places of detention, many were held without their families being notified.

The lack of information about detainees’ fates raises serious concerns about enforced disappearances.

In one harrowing case, a family repeatedly asked about their relative after he was detained by RSF intelligence personnel, but were just told on numerous occasions, “Don’t ask about him.” Months later, they learned that he had died.

While the report focuses on practices in detention facilities in Khartoum State, the UN Human Rights Office has documented similar patterns in other parts of Sudan, including the Darfur region and Al Jazirah State.

In recent months, as the SAF has regained control of certain territory, the Office has received credible reports of RSF transferring detainees from places of detention listed in the report to other locations. In January 2025, the Office received credible information about transfers of hundreds of detainees from Soba prison in Khartoum State to various locations, including to South Darfur.

“These practices are deeply concerning. They increase the risks of violations of international human rights norms and standards and undermine due process and the rule of law,” said Türk.

The report urges the parties to immediately cease practices of arbitrary detention, torture, and other forms of ill-treatment, improve detention conditions, and facilitate access to justice.

It also calls on the international community to engage with the parties to address and put an end to widespread practices of arbitrary arrest and detention, torture and ill-treatment, as well as other human rights violations and abuses.

Entrenched impunity

* In a previous report in January, the UN Human Rights Office laments: “Entrenched impunity is fuelling gross human rights violations and abuses in Sudan as fighting spreads to more parts of the country and involves additional armed actors.

The report details attacks on densely populated areas, as well as camps for displaced people, health facilities, markets, and schools. It also documents ethnically motivated summary executions, and calls for “a broader international effort towards accountability and to stem the flow of arms”.

Radio Dabanga has approached both the SAF and RSF independently for comment. In the past, while both belligerents have acknowledged the occurrence of “incidents”, the warring parties deny any structural campaigns, and insist that these are isolated crimes attributable to “rogue individual elements”, and pledging “to investigate abuses and prosecute those responsible”.

African Union

As previously reported by Radio Dabanga, a fact-finding mission convened by the African Union (AU) in January has called on individuals, civil society organisations, national human rights institutions, and other stakeholders, to submit reports of human rights violations in Sudan, “to gather comprehensive documentation to monitor, assess, and address the range of rights violations occurring since the beginning of the hostilities”.

The African Commission on Human and Peoples’ Rights (ACHPR) Hybrid Joint Fact-Finding Mission (FFM) with the AU Department of Peace, Security and Political Affairs (DPAPS) in Sudan is seeking urgent reports and contributions regarding human rights violations and abuses arising from the conflict in Sudan, the ACHPR said in a statement at the time.

Read the complete UN report here