Urgent call to Sudanese authorities, RSF and SAF to account for thousands of citizens who have gone missing since the armed conflict erupted

(29 June 2023) Africa Centre for Justice and Peace Studies (ACJPS) expresses deep concern about the increasing number of missing persons across Sudan since the armed conflict erupted on 15 April 2023. We call upon the Sudanese authorities, the Sudanese Armed Forces (SAF) and the paramilitary Rapid Support Forces (RSF) to account for all the missing persons, specifically those who are known to have been forcefully disappeared or are being held incommunicado by SAF and RSF.

Sudanese authorities must uphold their international obligations under relevant regional and international treaties which Sudan ratified by immediately carrying out independent, transparent and effective investigations with a view to determining the fate and whereabouts of all missing persons since 15 April 2023. Where victims are in the custody of the state (SAF), they should be either unconditionally released, or charged before the courts of law.

We also call upon the RSF to release all victims in their custody. For those who have died, graves must be shown to families/relatives and bodies released for proper burial. Perpetrators must be held to account through fair trials. We further call upon the warring parties to desist from arbitrarily arresting, detaining and torturing civilians.

Since the armed conflict broke out on 15 April 2023, ACJPS has documented 91 missing persons most of whom have been arrested by either by SAF or RSF. A few people have since been released. For example, Mr. Mohamed Alhadi, a medical doctor who was arrested at a check point near Jackson Station in Khartoum by SAF soldiers. Mr. Mohamed was stopped and the soldiers asked for his Identity Card which he presented. The soldiers then started questioning him about his origin and accused him of being affiliated to RSF. He was then arrested and taken to a detention centre where he found 17 other detainees in a small cell measuring 4 by 4 metres. The detainees were all arrested for similar reasons and they were subjected to torture. They had their hands tied and were beaten up by the soldiers and verbally abused.

On 29 April 2023, Mr. Husham S Mohamed was arrested by RSF at a check point in Jabel Awlia. Mr. Mohamed was on his way to Port Sudan when a bus he was travelling in was stopped and he was asked to get out. He was questioned about the whereabouts of Gen. Al-Burhan to ascertain whether he is a SAF member to which he answered in the negative. He was then searched and assaulted before he was allowed to return to the bus. Mr. Mohamed arrived at his home in Alkalaka safely but it was later destroyed by an air bomb.

In the recent years, there has been increased use of “short-term” disappearances where victims are detained incommunicado for a period of time and, eventually freed. The same tactic was used during the 2018-2019 Sudan revolution and after the 25^th of October 2021 coup. Unfortunately, enforced disappearances in Sudan are often coupled with other gross human rights violations, such as the practice of arbitrary arrests and/or detention, torture, rape and in some cases death, particularly by national security officers, RSF and armed militias. This is facilitated by the fact that victims are often detained incommunicado, in “inaccessible” detention centres and in unknown locations, thus placing them outside of protection of the law with no access to legal remedies.

Sudan must domesticate the International Convention for the Protection of All Persons from Enforced Disappearances  as a fundamental step towards the prevention, and the ultimate elimination, of the inadmissible practice of enforced disappearances. Laws that grant immunity to perpetrators must be amended, detention centres outside the normal custodial system, where victims are frequently held incommunicado must be closed. We urge regional and International human rights bodies to collectively and strongly demand that Sudan must end all enforced disappearances and ensure that perpetrators are held accountable. An independent international fact-finding mission, must be dispatched to establish the facts and circumstances of the alleged recent crime of enforced disappearance committed in the Sudan.

ACJPS has obtained names of 91 missing persons since 15 April 2023 in Khartoum.

• Abdeen Salah Youssef (m) from Alazhari neighborhood in Khartoum. Went missing on 18^th April, 2023
• Abdul Gadir Bala (m) from Industrial Area neighborhood in Khartoum Bahari. Went missing on 15^th April, 2023
• Abdul Gadir Mohamed Abdul Gadir (m) from an area around SAF headquarters in Central Khartoum. Went missing on 15^th April, 2023.
• Abdul Rahim Bakhit Abdul Rahim (m) from East Nile neighborhood in Khartoum Bahari. Went missing on 26^th April, 2023
• Abdul Rahim Bakhit (m) from Omdurman. Went missing on 27^th April, 2023.
• Abdulla Osman Abdullah (m) from Alduom East neighborhood in Khartoum. Went missing on 15^th April, 2023
• Abdullah Ismail (m) from Alryad Alhuria neighborhood in Khartoum. Went missing on 29^th April, 2023
• Abu Bakar Mohamed Osman (m) from Alnuzha neighborhood in Khartoum. Went missing on 21^st April, 2023
• Adam Bakhit Mohamed Fad Allah from Alshiglah neighborhood in Omdurman. Went missing on 15^th April, 2023
• Adam Jamal Eldien (m) from Jabrah neighborhood in Khartoum. Went missing on 28^th April, 2023
• Adil Alagib Farah (m). Went missing on 15^th April, 2023 from Khartoum International Airport
• Adil Salah Sharaf Eldien Suleiman (m) from Almanshia neighborhood in Khartoum. Went Missing on 21^st April, 2023
• Ahmed Zachariah Aldood (m). Went missing on 15^th April, 2023 from Khartoum International Airport.
• Ali Mohamed Ali Tarar (m) from Khartoum. Went missing on 29^th April, 2023
• Ali Omer Tuto Kafi (m) from Khartoum. Went missing on 20^th April, 2023
• Aljazuli Osman Fageer (m) from Al-haj Youssef neighborhood in Khartoum Bahari. Went missing on 29^th April, 2023
• Almahadi Ahmed Almahadi (m) went missing on 28^th April, 2023 from Central Khartoum Market
• Almudathier Suliman Adam (m) from Althura, Square 7 in Omdurman. Went missing on 18^th April, 2023
• Alnoor AL Bashir Alskekh (m) from Karari neighborhood in Omdurman. Went missing on 16^th April, 2023
• Alwathiq Abu Damir Mohamed (m) from East Nile neighborhood in Khartoum Bahari. Went missing on 23^rd April, 2023
• Amaal Abadi Aldaw (f) from Althura neighborhood in Omdurman. Went missing on 20^th April, 2023
• Awad Mohamed kHalifa (m) from Air Port Street in Khartoum. Went missing on 15^th April, 2023
• Ayoum James Manyol Arul (m) from Algadsia neighborhood in Khartoum. Went missing on 19^th April, 2023
• Azil Awad Aljazuli (m) from Alamarat neighborhood in Khartoum. Went missing on 20^th April, 2023
• Badur Eldien Abdullah (m) from East Nile neighborhood in Khartoum Bahari. Went missing on 23^rd April, 2023
• Bashir Ismail Ahmed Elyas (m) from Almualim neighborhood in Khartoum. Went missing on 15^th April, 2023
• Dahab Ali abdul Aziz (m) from Aabic Market in Khartoum. Went missing on 16^th April, 2023
• Doud Musa Mohamed Ibrahim (m) from Khartoum. Went missing on 15^th April, 2023
• Elteyeb Mutwakil (m) from Khartoum Bahari. Went missing on 20^th April, 2023
• Esam Eldien Adam Isa (m) from Omdurman. Went missing on 28^th April, 2023.
• Faris Abdul Hameed bahar (m) from Aljrafa neighborhood in Omdurman. Went missing on 15^th April, 2023
• Farooq Zahir (m) from 60^th Street in Arkaweet neighborhood, Khartoum. Went missing on 15^th April, 2023
• Hamam Abdullah Al-Mubarak (m) from Kafori neighborhood in Khartoum. Went missing on 15^th April, 2023
• Hashiem Mohamed Alaskan (m) from Khartoum. Went missing on 15^th April, 2023 and was last seen near SAF club in Khartoum
• Hassan Mohamed Adam (m) from Alsahafa neighborhood in Khartoum. Went missing on 15^th April, 2023
• Ibrahim Abdul Kareem Ahmed (m) from Burri neighborhood in Khartoum. Went missing on 16^th April, 2023
• Ibrahim babakir Ibrahim (m) from Khartoum. Went missing on 15^th April, 2023
• Ibrahim Babkir (m) from Khartoum ii neighborhood in Khartoum. Went missing on 20^th April, 2023
• Ibrahim Fakhar Eldien awad salih (m) from Alryaad neighborhood in Khartoum. Went missing on 30^th April, 2023
• Ibrahim Humida Agabeen (m) from Alfetihab neighborhood in Omdurman. Went missing on 24^th April, 2023
• Ismail Abbas (m). He went missing on 15^th April, 2023
• Ismail Abdul gadir Aljali (m). He went missing on 24^th April, 2023
• Jafar Sulfab Mohamed Sulfab (m) from Aldroshab neighborhood in Khartoum Bahari. Went missing on 20^th April, 2023
• Khalid Muzaz Saad Ibarhim (m) from Alamarta neighborhood in Khartoum. Went missing on 20^th April, 2023
• Mahmoud Munstaris (m). He went missing on 21^st April, 2023
• Mamdoh Jamal Mohamed Ahmed (m) from Burri neighborhood in Khartoum Bahari. Went missing on 16^th April, 2023
• Maysoon Mahjoob Mohamed (f) from Hai Adobate neighborhood in Omdurman. She has been missing since 4^th April, 2023
• Mazin Ahmed Hassan (m) from Alhalfaia neighborhood in Khartoum Bahari. Has been missing since 15^th April, 2023
• Mazin Taha (m) from Jabara neighborhood in Khartoum. He went missing on 15^th April, 2023
• Mohamed Abu Bakar Hamada (m) from Arkaweet neighborhood in Khartoum. He went missing on 19^th April, 2023
• Mohamed Adam Ibrahim Alhaje (m) from Alamir (Umbada) neighborhood in Omdurman. He went missing on 26^th April, 2023
• Mohamed Ahmed (m). Went missing on 20^th April 2023 from Khartoum Arabic Market
• Mohamed Alhadi Isa Obid (m) from Eldom East neighborhood in Khartoum. Went missing on 20^th April, 2023
• Mohamed Alhaj Mohamed (m) from Jabrah neighborhood in Khartoum. He has been missing since 16^th April, 2023
• Mohamed Alhashimi Atif (m) from Shambat neighborhood in Khartoum Bahari. He went missing on 16^th April, 2023
• Mohamed Bashir Mukhtar (m) from Alengaz neighborhood in Khartoum. Went missing on 25^th April, 2023
• Mohamed Bashir Mukhtar Abakar (m) from Alengaz neighborhood in Khartoum. Went missing on 25^th April, 2023
• Mohamed Elyas Hameed (m) from Alkalakla neighborhood in South Khartoum. Went missing on 15^th April, 2023
• Mohamed Fadlaah Alamin (m) was last seen 15^th April, 2023 from SAF headquarters square in Khartoum
• Mohamed Fadul Allah Alamin (m) was last seen on 14^th April, 2023 near SAF headquarters in Khartoum
• Mohamed Haneef Allah (m) from Alhuria neighborhood in Khartoum. He has been missing since 19^th April, 2023
• Mohamed Hasan hashem (m). Went missing on 15^th April, 2023 at Sudanese Army Forces Club neighborhood in Khartoum
• Mohamed Hassan Mohamed Alneam (m) was last seen on 15^th April, 2023 at Khartoum International Airport
• Mohamed Hassan Mohamed Nameem (m) has been missing since 15^th April, 2023 and was last seen at Khartoum International Airport
• Mohanad Mahamoud Zain (m) from Alfetihab neighborhood in Omdurman. Has been missing since 24^th April, 2023
• Muhi Eldien Bashir Abdul Bagi (m) from Haj Yosef Almagoma neighborhood in Khartoum Bahari. Has been missing since 22^nd April, 2023
• Mujaheed Shaish Eldien (m) from central Khartoum. Went missing on 15^th April, 2023
• Muneer Maki Segen Harwat (m) from Khartoum. Has been missing since 16^th April, 2023
• Murad Endook Wisk (m) from Aljereef neighborhood in Khartoum. Has been missing since 16^th April, 2023
• Murtada Abbas Eltelib (m) from East Nile neighborhood in Khartoum Bahari. Went missing on 16^th April, 2023
• Musab Abdullah Elteyeb (m) from Jeyad neighborhood in Khartoum. Went missing on 15^th April, 2023
• Mustafa Gisim (m) from Alsahafa neighborhood in Khartoum. Went missing on 17^th April, 2023
• Mustafa Mohamed Alhassan (m) from Khartoum Sport town. He went missing on 15^th April, 2023
• Muzamil Abdula Rahman Baba Allah (m) from Kafwrie neighborhood in Khartoum. Has been missing since 24^th April, 2023
• Najm Eldeen Mohamed (m) from Alryad Alhuria neighborhood in Khartoum. He has been missing since 29^th April, 2023
• Omer Abdul Raheed Hussen (m) went missing on 18^th April, 2023 from Doctors Guest House in Khartoum
• Omer Abu Bakar Alsmani (m) from East Nile neighborhood in Khartoum Bahari. Has been missing since 15^th April, 2023
• Omer Abu Bakar Alsmani (m) from East Nile neighborhood in Khartoum Bahari. Went missing on 15^th April, 2023
• Omer Alsafi Omer Nimir (m) from Alklakla neighborhood in Khartoum. Has been missing since 30^th April, 2023
• Omer Youssef Ahmed Garad (m) from Omdurman. He has been missing since 29^th April, 2023
• Qurashi Ahmed Quarshi (m) from Abu Hamah neighborhood in Khartoum. Has been missing since 17^th April, 2023
• Rwaa (f) from Helat Hamad neighborhood in Khartoum Bahari. Went missing on 18^th April, 2023
• Saas Abdul Salam Mahmoud (m) from Khartoum ii neighborhood in Khartoum. He has been missing since 18^th April, 2023
• Saif Eldien Idris Eldoma (m) from Khartoum Bahari. Has been missing since 19^th April, 2023
• Sidiq Ismail Mohamed (m) from Omdurman. He has been missing since 23^rd April, 2023
• Tariq Mohamed Allusion(m) from Althura neighborhood in Omdurman. Has been missing since 16^th April 2023 around 04:00pm
• Wale Eldien Mohamed Ahmed (m) from Khartoum Bahari. Went missing on 18^th April, 2023
• Wali Eduen Adam Hameed (m) from Khartoum Bahari. Has been missing since 17^th April, 2023
• Yair Abdullah Ibarahim (m) from Al-Haj Youssef neighborhood in Khartoum Bahari. Has been missing since 28^th April, 2023
• Yasir Mohamed Abdullah Bakar (m) from Alhuria neighborhood in Khartoum. Has been missing since 19^th April, 2023
• Yassin Awad Hama Shuaib (m) Has been missing since 15^th April, 2023 and was last seen at Arabic Market in Khartoum.