Hundreds of Civilians Forcefully Disappeared

Medani – Sudan Events

The Sudanese Group on Victim of Forced disappearance has revealed that at least 842 civilians have forcefully disappeared since the outbreak of the war between the Sudanese Army and the rebel paramilitary Rapid Support. The report covers the period.
April 15 up to September the 4th.
The group had earlier issued a report in October showing figure and statistics and information covering the period from April the 15th up to October the 15th, comprising the situation in Khartoum, Omdurman, Khartoum North, wad Madani, El Obied, Nyala, Fashir, Genaina, Zalingue where documented disappearance of men, women and children as well as 9 individuals suffering psychological disorders
Osman Al Basri, member of the group told Sudan Tribune that some 842 persons have disappeared since the start of the war including 127 from Jabal Awliya and 45 km south of down town Khartoum.
He added that the reports of disappearances registered with the Public Prosecution in Wad Madani, the capital of the Gezira State, indicate that 471 are registered missing.
He stressed that dozens of families have reported to the group that they received calls from parties blackmailing them and demanding ransoms if they wish to have their children released and that the ransom varies between one billion pounds (about a thousand dollars) to 5 billion pounds (about 5 thousand dollars).
Al-Basri appealed to the families not to deal with what he called shams and to contact the Sudanese Group for Victims of Enforced Disappearance directly or through the group’s Facebook page or the “Wait Them Where Campaign” page on Twitter for legal assistance.
According to the report, the violations monitored last October, included kidnapping, detention, and disappearance of people without their families knowing any information about their fate.
Observers who worked on the report stated that detainees told them that in detention places run by the RSF, they were subjected to beating, sun burning, deprivation from hygiene materials and were forced to carry food and ammunitions.
The report registered the forceful disappearance of at least 49 women since the start of the war. The report did not exclude the possibility of the women being sexually abused and raped.
It further confirmed the disappearance of 18 children since April 15, which is a violation of several provisions of the Children’s Convention.
During the report’s monitoring of the first six months of the war, most cases of enforced disappearance were recorded in May, with 141 cases, while Khartoum registered the highest crimes of disappearance, with 309 cases, followed by Omdurman, 156 cases, and Khartoum Bahri, 130 cases.
El Obeid in North Kordufan and Nyala in South Darfur also recorded 3 cases of disappearance, each, in addition to two cases of disappearance in El Fasher in North Darfur and one case of disappearance in each of El Genaina and Zalingei in West and Central Darfur.
The report noted that 110 cases of disappearance were recorded, their exact location was not specified, but the disappearance occurred in the states affected by the war.
In terms of gender, the report recorded the disappearance of 666 males, including 650 adults and 16 minors.
It recorded the disappearance of 49 females, 47 adults and 2 young girls.