Civilians continue to bear the brunt of horrific devastation in Sudan

This article contains graphic and distressing descriptions of torture and sexual assault.

Civilians are still bearing the brunt of destruction and devastation in Sudan. A civil war between the Sudanese Armed Forces (SAF) and the Rapid Support Forces (RSF) shows no signs of de-escalation. In a powerful symbolic victory, the SAF recaptured the presidential palace. However, the situation remains unchanged for many civilians who continue to face a dire situation.

Human Rights Watch have accused the RSF of ethnic cleansing of the Masalit tribe and other non-Arab groups. Arbitrary detention, torture, and rape are rife as people struggle to feed themselves. Repeated campaigns across the world have attempted to bring attention to the crises in Sudan.

Sudan: detention

A report from the United Nations Office of the High Commissioner for Human Rights (OHCHR) has demonstrated the shocking state for people arbitrarily detained in Sudan. The OHCHR collected the testimonies of 26 people sharing experiences from RSF-controlled places of detention, and 8 people describing their experiences in SAF-detention facilities. They found that both groups had arbitrarily detained people and that:

Detainees were subjected to severe forms of torture and other forms of ill-treatment, with the RSF typically using beatings and electric shocks.

Both parties have kept detainees in inhumane conditions of detention, characterized by extreme overcrowding, poor ventilation, and insufficient sanitation. In RSF-controlled facilities, inadequate food and water led to malnutrition and preventable deaths, while denial of medical care resulted in high death rates from untreated illnesses and injuries.

The OHCHR estimated that 10,000 people were being detained in RSF-controlled areas of detention. The conditions were described as “severe” and “inhumane.” They found a report of:

alleged sexual violence against female detainees in one detention facility in Jabal Awlia locality, south of Khartoum, and another account of sexual exploitation in a facility in Al Mamoura, eastern Khartoum.

Detainees described being tightly packed into trucks whilst being transported between facilities. OHCHR found that detainees in RSF-controlled transit and detention facilities:

described being subjected to physical and psychological abuse, including severe beatings with whips, metal rods, and hoses; electric shocks; and suspension in painful positions.

One person told the researchers:

the torture intensified as they beat me with leather whips on every part of my body. For over an hour, they bound my hands and feet behind my back, suspended me from the ceiling, and beat the soles of my feet, asking if I was ready to confess. My fingernails had been completely removed, and I could not walk as my face and back were swollen.

The OHCHR also found that the RSF forced children as young as 14 to serve as armed guards within detention facilities. Detainees were also forced to:

transport dead bodies, looted goods, ammunitions, and food supplies to RSF-controlled areas.

In the Al-Riyadh complex, detainees described how after someone had died guards would often delay their responses for over 12 hours. In Soba prison, the people interviewed told researchers that on some days:

the daily death toll reached up to 80, mostly due to malnutrition and treatable diseases.

Detainees in SAF-controlled facilities told the OHCHR that they were tortured:

with common methods of abuse including beatings with hoses, rifle butts, and electric shocks, often leaving detainees with untreated injuries and significant physical trauma.

Further:

Victims interviewed by OHCHR consistently described the conditions across SAF detention facilities as overcrowded, unsanitary, and lacking basic necessities, with detainees often confined in close quarters without sufficient ventilation, sanitation or access to clean water.

‘Unimaginable suffering’ for children

UNICEF’s executive director, Catherine Russell, has told the UN security council that:

Children in Sudan are enduring unimaginable suffering and horrific violence.

The organisation found that children, some as young as a year old, have been raped during the civil war. Al Jazeera reported that:

at least 221 children, including boys, were raped by armed men, according to records compiled by gender-based violence service providers in the North African nation.

Of those cases, 66 percent of the survivors were girls and the rest were boys. There were 16 survivors below the age of five, including four who were as young as one.

In addition to that:

UNICEF recorded an additional 77 reported cases of sexual assault against children – primarily attempted rape.

However, this is further compounded by the fact that in all likelihood many more rape cases are going unreported. UNICEF spokesperson Tess Ingram said:

In a culture of really serious social stigma and at a time when access to services has been severely hampered, the fact that this group came forward tells us that it is only a small sample.

It is only the tip of the iceberg of what are undoubtedly hundreds more children who have been raped.

Starvation

The World Food Programme have found that Sudan risks becoming the largest hunger crisis in the world. Famine has been confirmed in 10 areas. Earlier this month, US president Donald Trump paused almost all of the global aid programmes it funds. As Al Jazeera reported:

Last year, USAID contributed 44 percent to Sudan’s $1.8bn humanitarian response, according to the United Nations.

Without this money, food is scarce with community kitchens struggling to fill the gap. As RSF forces further escalate violent attacks, several agencies have been forced to stop their operations in the area. Both Doctors Without Borders (MSF) and the United Nations World Food Programme have had to withdraw from areas of Sudan due to increased violence.

Direct action for Sudan

We need to organise and join protests that call attention to the atrocities in Sudan. The following thread details a number of community food kitchens which are fundraising:

🇸🇩 Thread of Sudanese initiatives on the ground to support and donate to:

— Saroyah♡ྀི🎀 (@saroyahx) February 22, 2025

This includes Khartoum Aid Kitchen and Hamdan Community Kitchen.

HRRDS are a Sudanese organisation who work to support disabled people and other vulnerable groups multiply impacted by displacement.

The Sudan Solidarity Collective are a volunteer-run organisation that provide online workshops, training, and more for those wanting to learn how to organise in their own areas for Sudan.

Featured image via the Canary