Charity group condemns enforced disappearance, torture, mass killing of women, children in Sudan's North Darfur
Port Sudan, Sudan (PANA) - A women rights group in East Africa, The Strategic Initiative for Women in the Horn of Africa (SIHA) Network, has revealed new documented cases of women, and children, mostly from a family, forcibly taken away by the paramilitary Rapid Support Forces (RSF) from the besieged town of Al Fashir and the adjacent IDP camps.
“SIHA strongly condemns the abduction and enforced disappearance of women and children by the Rapid Support Forces (RSF) and affiliated militia in and around Al Fashir. Such conduct is a flagrant violation of international humanitarian and human rights law, amounting to war crimes and crimes against humanity," it said in a statement received on Monday.
The release said since the outbreak of the war in April 2023, SIHA has documented more than 291 cases of enforced disappearance and abduction of women, girls, and children across Sudan.
The charity warned that the crime of enforced disappearance has been worsening in Darfur over the past year, confirming that these crimes are being committed in a systematic manner, using the civilian population, predominantly the bodies of women and children, as targets of war.
“Since the beginning of August 2025, crimes of kidnapping and enforced disappearance of women and children in Al Fashir City and Abu Shouk Displaced Camp have become the norm due to the increasing expansion of the RSF in the city,” it said, citing detailed instances.
“These systematic acts against women, children, and the elderly are not isolated incidents but rather part of a deliberate policy to terrorise civilians. Enforced disappearance, sexual violence, mass execution, and the targeting of vulnerable groups are all serious violations criminalised by international conventions and require urgent accountability.”
The statement noted that Darfur has suffered cycles of atrocities and genocidal acts, forced evacuation, and mass killing for more than 22 years, saying it is imperative for the international community and the United Nations (UN) to take decisive action to halt this suffering.
“We demand the immediate and unconditional release of all those enforced disappeared and for their return to their families. We urgently call for the RSF to lift the siege on Al-Fashir to facilitate humanitarian access and rescue civilians caught in the violence.”
SIHA also demanded an end to all external interference in the conflict, including supplying weapons, in line with the arms embargo in Darfur.
It further demanded that all warring parties fully comply with United Nations Security Council (UNSC) Resolution 2736 (2024), starting with the immediate cessation of hostilities. In the absence of this, the UNSC must urgently consider all other options, including the deployment of a peacekeeping mission in Darfur to protect civilians on the ground.
“We must hold all perpetrators of Darfur crimes accountable, including (ousted President Omsr) Al-Bashir, his accomplices and current perpetrators, to contribute to peace and stability in the region. Justice will always be the foundation of peace and peaceful coexistence.”
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