In the suffocating darkness of a sealed shipping container, every thud reminded Ibrahim Noureldin that another detainee had perished as Sudanese paramilitary fighters crammed more men inside. Thousands are believed to have been detained during the Rapid Support Forces’ (RSF) October takeover of North Darfur’s El-Fasher, a military assault that a UN investigation later said showed “hallmarks of genocide.”
“When people died of thirst and hunger, we were beaten and forced to bury them outside,” said Noureldin, 42, speaking from Tawila, a refugee town west of El-Fasher now sheltering hundreds of thousands of displaced people. “We were made to lift their luggage, materials, weapons. If we moved too slowly, we were whipped.”
The RSF, engaged in conflict with Sudan’s regular army for nearly three years, has maintained a tight grip on El-Fasher, allowing only limited humanitarian access. According to the UN’s rights office and the London-based Centre for Information Resilience, the RSF transformed hospitals, schools, warehouses, and shipping containers—like the one that nearly killed Noureldin—into sprawling detention facilities.
In fragile shelters in Tawila, Zoyols spoke with five former detainees, each sharing rare firsthand accounts. Noureldin recounted how he and six others were fleeing the RSF’s final assault on October 26 when they were shot at, beaten, and accused of siding with the army. He was then locked with about 120 men in an airless container, surviving for over a month on tiny sips of water and small portions of lentils.
Verified UN and CIR reports indicate that detainees included government employees, journalists, doctors, teachers, and aid workers. Many were held for ransom, accused of army affiliation, or targeted based on tribal identity. The RSF denies these claims, dismissing reports as propaganda and accusing the army of using civilians as human shields. Both sides, however, have faced allegations of committing atrocities against civilians, including deliberate targeting and unlawful detention.
The brutality was especially severe at El-Fasher Children’s Hospital, one of the RSF’s largest detention centers, where the UN reported over 2,000 men were held without water or food. Abdullah Idris, 45, described drinking only saline solution as dozens died around him each day, with the UN recording up to 40 deaths daily during a cholera-like outbreak, totaling 260 deaths in a single week. Torture, he said, was rampant. “If you tried to speak, they’d kill you with a single shot.”
Ahmed Aman, 45, added that some detainees had their fingernails ripped out with pliers. Weeks later, he was forced to march with at least 600 others, including women and children, to another site northwest of El-Fasher.
Nedal Yasser, 27, endured six weeks shuttled between RSF detention centers. Beaten, tied up, and interrogated, her ordeal worsened once her husband’s army affiliation was discovered. Women faced sexual harassment, were often denied bathroom breaks, and were forced to pay $2,000 ransoms, despite having lost all belongings to looting. Yasser suffered a miscarriage while walking dozens of kilometers to Tawila.
UN investigations documented widespread torture and cruel, inhuman, and degrading treatment, including sexual violence, beatings with wooden rods, flogging, and being suspended in painful positions. Survivors in Tawila still bear the scars: Aman’s back is shredded from beatings, Yasser faints when standing, and mechanic Ahmed al-Sheikh walks with a limp and has lost sight in his right eye after an RSF attack.
“They’d kill people right in front of us,” al-Sheikh said. “They would select people randomly, killing us like animals.” According to the UN, at least 6,000 detainees from El-Fasher were later transferred to Tagris prison in Nyala, the RSF’s de facto capital, where communication is entirely cut off.
The testimonies paint a chilling picture of a detention system marked by terror, deprivation, and systemic brutality, leaving survivors physically and emotionally scarred long after their release.
