A UN report details widespread arbitrary detention and torture in Khartoum, where thousands, including women and children, are held in poor conditions. The report underscores violations by the Rapid Support Forces and Sudanese Armed Forces, highlighting ethnic discrimination and enforced disappearances. Immediate international action is urged to end these human rights abuses.
A recent UN report exposes severe human rights violations in detention facilities in Khartoum State, revealing systematic arbitrary detentions, torture, and atrocious living conditions. This report indicates that since the conflict began in April 2023, tens of thousands, including women and children, have been detained without charges in overcrowded, unhygienic environments, with restricted family contact.
UN High Commissioner for Human Rights Volker Türk stated that these practices defy international law, emphasizing, “No individual should be deprived of their liberty without due process, nor… subjected to torture or other cruel, inhuman or degrading treatment or punishment.” The findings are based on interviews with 34 former detainees and families.
Detainees reported brutal torture, overcrowding, poor sanitation, and inadequate food and medical care, resulting in several deaths. Disturbingly, children as young as 14 are being used as guards, while sexual violence against female detainees has been reported in certain facilities.
Further, there are severe biases in treatment based on ethnicity, with individuals from regions like Darfur and Kordofan disproportionately affected. The report also highlights enforced disappearances, as families often receive no information on the status of their detained relatives.
Despite the grim focus on Khartoum, similar abuses have been documented in other regions of Sudan, particularly in Darfur and Al Jazirah. Recently, reports have indicated the transfer of detainees to different facilities as the SAF restores control over territories. The report calls for immediate cessation of these violations and engagement from the international community to uphold human rights standards and legal processes.
The UN report reveals dire conditions in Sudan’s detention facilities, with arbitrary detentions, torture, and significant abuses reported. Urging immediate action, it highlights the rights’ violations against detainees based on ethnicity and the alarming practices of enforced disappearances. The call for global intervention emphasizes the need to restore justice and uphold human rights in the ongoing conflict.
Original Source: reliefweb.int
