A Prisoner Tells the Story of His Escape from the Horrors of Militia Prisons

Report by: Abdel-Baqi Al-Zafir

The United Nations Human Rights Commission revealed last Thursday that the Rapid Support Forces (RSF) have detained more than 10,000 people in detention centers across Khartoum State. These detainees were distributed among approximately 40 facilities, where hundreds have died due to torture and disease.

The commission’s report covers the period from the beginning of the war on April 15, 2023, to June 2024, exposing human rights abuses and violations of international humanitarian law within these detention centers.

Similarly, a report published by The Guardian provided evidence that more than 500 people were tortured or starved to death in one detention center and were subsequently buried in a secret mass grave north of Khartoum, near the Qari military base, which was under RSF control until January 25.

A visit to the base—about 70 km (40 miles) away—shortly after the Sudanese army regained control revealed an unknown detention center. Shackles hanging from doors and bloodstains on the floor suggested that the rooms had been used for torture.

The Atrocities

Survivors of the detention center reported being subjected to repeated torture by their captors. Near the center, a large burial site contains numerous bodies of detainees who died under torture. At least 550 unmarked graves have been found, many freshly dug. Doctors who examined the survivors identified countless signs of torture and concluded that they had been starved.

The site is the largest known temporary burial ground in Sudan since the war began. Human Rights Watch, which has investigated violations across the country, described the detention center as “one of the largest scenes of brutal crimes discovered in Sudan since the war began” and called on the United Nations to allow war crimes investigators to access the site.

Dr. Hisham Al-Sheikh, who examined 135 men found there after the Sudanese Armed Forces reclaimed the site in late January, reported overwhelming clinical evidence of torture and chronic malnutrition. Speaking to The Guardian, he noted that the men—all civilians—were deeply traumatized, with many unable to speak.

Satellite imagery of a single-track road next to the base, taken weeks after the war started, showed no signs of burial activity. However, an image from May 25, 2024, revealed numerous mounds stretching over 200 meters.

Sergeant Mohamed Amin, now stationed in Qari, stated, “All the bodies buried there belonged to people who perished at the base.” A Sudanese army officer added that the detainees they found “had their hands and feet tied together and were in extremely poor condition, with clear signs of torture.”

Jean-Baptiste Gallopin of Human Rights Watch confirmed that Sudanese authorities, now in control of the base, have treated it as a potential war crime site and have taken immediate steps to secure and preserve evidence crucial for accountability. He described these efforts as “vital.”

A Prisoner’s Testimony

Al Jazeera Net interviewed one of the surviving prisoners from the RSF detention centers, who requested anonymity as he had not received permission from his military unit to disclose his identity.

Warrant Officer Othman recounted his ordeal, starting from the first day of the war. He had maintained contact with his military unit via phone and carried out assignments from his home in Al-Azhari, southern Khartoum, for nearly two months.

Concerned for his wife, two young children, elderly father, and overburdened mother, he planned to move them away from RSF-controlled areas. Reports of looted homes, stolen cars, and escalating violence made him fear that his own family would be targeted.

“I never imagined that one day, the enemy itself would come knocking at my door,” he said. “They gave me no chance to escape. They simply said, ‘Othman, we need you at the RSF intelligence office.’”

Taken to a nearby location, he found that it was not an office but an unfinished house. His captors barely spoke, letting their whips do the questioning. “They beat me brutally. When I admitted, ‘Yes, I am Othman, I serve in the armed forces,’ it was enough to pause the torture—for a while.” He was detained there for five days.

From there, he and a fellow captive were transferred to their first prison at the RSF headquarters in Al-Riyadh district, known as The Skeleton Building. “We were crammed into a tiny room—about 25 of us. A corner of the room had a bucket for relieving ourselves, with only a cloth for privacy. If it filled up before morning, we were forced to endure the stench.”

They were given only two meals a day—corn porridge (Asida), sometimes mixed with sugar in the morning and salt at night. Their daily water ration was six cups per person, sometimes even less. “We became emaciated, and lice infested our heads and bodies.”

Cellmates and Death

Othman spoke of fellow prisoners:

• Dr. Mohamed Marai, a civilian surgeon working at a military hospital, who was imprisoned and later died of starvation and despair.
• Ali Jaafar, an American citizen of Sudanese origin, arrested while traveling to Port Sudan. His foreign passport did not save him, as he was accused of collaborating with the army. Othman lost contact with him and assumed he had died.
• Wael Mohamed, a young man holding both American and Sudanese passports. He lost his sanity in prison, speaking only in English. A key military figure, he was accused of planning an attack on the RSF headquarters on the first day of the war. One day, he was taken away, and his fate remains unknown.

After months of suffering, Othman and his fellow prisoners were moved to Soba Prison in eastern Khartoum. Conditions improved slightly, with larger cells and more water, but food remained scarce. At one point, only 48 prisoners out of 180 remained alive.

A Glimmer of Hope

By February, Othman and his fellow inmates felt they would all die in Soba Prison. Then, suddenly, gunfire erupted nearby. Their captors panicked, discarded their uniforms, and fled.

Inside the locked cells, chaos ensued. Some wanted to break out and escape, but others feared they would be mistaken for combatants in the crossfire. They decided to wait for the army to rescue them.

However, the battle subsided, and the RSF returned, furious. They began sorting prisoners, initially based on tribal affiliation. High-ranking tribal members were released immediately, while others were placed in different cells—nicknamed The Tribal Ward as a grim joke.

Realizing he was about to be transferred, Othman devised a plan: he assumed the identity of a deceased police officer whose name and ID he had memorized. RSF records were disorganized, so his deception worked. He was transferred to a police detention center, while his military comrades were moved to Nyala, a sign that RSF knew they were losing control of Khartoum.

The Escape

In mid-February, Othman and three other inmates planned their escape. Their leader, Anwar, an experienced army sergeant, scouted the prison for weaknesses.

At 8 PM, under cover of darkness, Anwar broke a window with minimal noise. One by one, they slipped out, crawled past thorny mesquite trees, and reached the outer perimeter. The biggest challenge was scaling the high main wall, which had a guard tower. But when Anwar reached the tower, he found it unmanned. They climbed over and escaped into a nearby residential area.

At one point, they encountered an RSF patrol but walked past them casually, pretending to be civilians. The soldiers paid them no mind.

Finally, they reached their safe house—one of the team member’s brother’s home. They had won their freedom, but Othman’s joy remained incomplete. “We survived,” he said, “but we do not know the fate of those still trapped in RSF prisons.”

(Source: Al Jazeera Net)