Detainees Held in Containers: UN report condemns Horrific Violations by SAF
A new UN report accused the Sudanese Armed Forces (SAF) and the Joint Force of committing widespread violations in neighborhoods north of El-Fasher, North Darfur state, these violations included -but weren’t limited to- looting and detaining arrested individuals in shipping containers.
The report, overseen by the UN Panel of Experts on Sudan, indicates that members of the Sudanese Army and the Joint Force looted homes in Abu Shouk IDPs Camp.
According to the report, members of the Sudanese Army and the Joint Force carried out widespread arbitrary arrests of civilians, youth, human rights activists, and journalists suspected of collaborating with the Rapid Support Forces (RSF).
The UN report also states that detainees were transferred to the headquarters of the former UN-African Union Mission in Darfur (UNAMID), where they were held for up to two weeks in shipping containers without adequate food and water.
The aforementioned detainees held by the Joint Force were subjected to physical and psychological abuse, including severe beatings and verbal abuse, according to the UN report.
The recently issued report accused both parties of causing damage to civilian objects and infrastructure. However, it clarified that key commanders in the Sudanese Army and the allied Joint Force oversaw the military operations in El-Fasher, which witnessed violations and abuses, indicating that they were carried out with the knowledge and guidance of the Commanders.
The Sudanese Army and its allied militias are facing popular discontent, with an escalating campaign by activists accusing the Commander-in-Chief of the Sudanese Army, Abdel Fattah Al-Burhan of establishing “authoritarian military rule.” Al-Burhan has responded to such sentiments by launching a campaign of arbitrary arrests targeting activists and journalists alike.
Local press reports recently revealed information regarding a widespread campaign of arrests and assassinations targeting individuals who participated in the popular revolution and expressed their rejection of the ongoing war, calling for the return of civilian rule. This was believed to be a preemptive measure against any movement similar to that of (2019).
Security Forces affiliated with the Port Sudan Authority carried out a large-scale campaign of arrests of activists and volunteers at “Takaya” (charitable public kitchens), which provide free food services to those in need, expanding the scope of repression to include political as well as relief activities.
The expansion of arrests and the mistreatment of detainees by the Sudanese Army has invoked continued international condemnation. Last March, the Office of the United Nations High Commissioner for Human Rights (ohchr) accused the Sudanese Army of arbitrarily arresting women and children without charge, detaining them in “squalid and overcrowded” facilities, with limited or no contact with their families.
Former detainees provided credible accounts of horrific torture and ill-treatment, that included severe and repeated beatings in detention facilities, citing dire conditions in severely overcrowded detention facilities, limited access to sanitation, and inadequate food and water.
