Sudan: Arbitrary Arrests by the Army and Security Forces

• The Sudanese Armed Forces and affiliated forces arbitrarily detained, tortured, and mistreated civilians in areas under their control, denying them the right to a fair trial.
• The army carried out a campaign of terror and reprisals against individuals classified as collaborators, based on their ethnic identity, humanitarian work, political affiliation, or residency under the Rapid Support Forces control.
• Authorities should take steps to end arbitrary detentions, torture, and mistreatment, and provide reparations to detainees and their families. International and regional actors should clearly warn military leaders that they will be held accountable for such abuses.

(Nairobi, April 8, 2026) – The Sudanese Armed Forces (SAF) and affiliated security forces have arbitrarily arrested, tortured, and mistreated civilians in areas under their control, denying them the right to a fair trial, Human Rights Watch said today.

Security forces and the army arrested civilians suspected of collaborating with the Rapid Support Forces (RSF), in conflict with the army, especially in areas the army regained control over, often based solely on their ethnic identity, political or real/suspected affiliation, or humanitarian work. The unlawful deprivation of liberty, mistreatment, and torture inflicted on civilians may constitute war crimes, or even crimes against humanity.

“The Sudanese Armed Forces and their allies conducted a campaign of terror and reprisals against individuals they consider collaborators, based on their identity, humanitarian work, political activities, or simply because they lived under the control of the Rapid Support Forces,” said Mohamed Osman, a researcher on Sudan at Human Rights Watch. “Witness accounts from former detainees, their relatives, and lawyers paint a grim picture of arbitrary abuses encouraged by a climate of impunity.”

The Sudanese army and affiliated forces kept detainees in secret, depriving families of information and access to their relatives, and in some cases engaged in enforced disappearances, Human Rights Watch found. Prosecutors and judges’ oversight is inadequate; detainees are denied access to legal assistance or have limited access. Human Rights Watch documented at least two deaths due to torture and mistreatment in detention. Authorities are presumed responsible for deaths in detainment, requiring them to conduct prompt, impartial, efficient investigations in such cases.

Between June 2025 and February 2026, Human Rights Watch interviewed 28 individuals: 7 former detainees, 9 detainees’ relatives, 11 lawyers and activists, and one security force member. These individuals described abuses against men and women detained by the Sudanese Armed Forces and their affiliates in areas controlled by the army or recaptured from the RSF since 2024, particularly in Khartoum, and the states of Gezira, Gedaref, the Red Sea, and Northern.

On March 18, Human Rights Watch sent letters to the office of the Transitional Sovereignty Council President and the Prosecutor’s Office reporting its findings. Both entities responded on April 2. In its response, the Prosecutor’s Office rejected allegations of arbitrary arrests and deaths in detainment, except for one case where a criminal procedure was ongoing, without providing details of the individuals involved.

While some reports suggest a decrease in some abuses, arbitrary detentions persist, with insufficient oversight from prosecutors and judges.

Those interviewed stated that various forces, grouped within “security cells,” were involved in illegal detentions. These security cells include the general intelligence services, military intelligence services, and sometimes an army-affiliated militia, the al-Baraa Ibn Malik battalion.

A police officer assigned to a security cell in Omdurman, in the Khartoum metropolitan area, recounted an incident in April 2025 where colleagues mistreated a woman accused of collaborating with the Rapid Support Forces. “We went to her with three vehicles. Two men from the al-Baraa Ibn Malik battalion stormed in, armed, quickly took her out half-naked, hitting and slapping her, before throwing her at the back of one of our vans,” he said.

Human rights organizations also reported the detention of hundreds of women accused of collaborating with the RSF due to their ethnic background or place of residence, with at least 25 sentenced to death. In January 2026, military chief Abdel Fattah al-Burhan visited the Omdurman women’s prison and ordered the release of 400 women, including some accused of collaboration, urging officials to review the situation of detainees in prisons. Several lawyers and observers indicated that many women were still detained in Omdurman and other prisons without undergoing regular legal proceedings.

A 35-year-old woman and her two brothers fled Gezira state, controlled by the RSF in late February 2024, and sought refuge in Port Sudan. Security service agents in Port Sudan arrested them, accusing them of being collaborators. “I was hit everywhere, even though I told them I was diabetic,” said the woman. “They kept hitting and slapping me with their hands, sticks, and whips, insulting me. I felt completely humiliated, as if I were no longer human. They beat me until I involuntarily soiled myself.” The woman was released after a week without being charged and fled the country.

Former detainees and several lawyers stated that security service members and military intelligence acting independently also detained individuals in military facilities, including army bases, and homes turned into detention centers. The Prosecutor’s Office refuted these allegations, claiming that detainees were only placed in custody or incarcerated in prisons, subject to regular visits by prosecutors ensuring the legality of their detention conditions.

Among the recent victims of arbitrary detention is a 25-year-old man who was arrested at home at the beginning of February 2026 by armed men, some in military uniforms. The man then became a victim of enforced disappearance. “They entered the house and started beating him, accusing him of being a collaborator,” said his 40-year-old brother. “We asked them where they were taking him, but they refused to answer. One of them said: ‘You better focus on something else; your brother won’t come back.’ He believed his brother was arrested for participating in demonstrations during the 2021 military coup. The last time the family saw the young man, he was in the hands of the local security cell as they took him away. As of March 9, despite multiple efforts to determine his status or whereabouts, he remains a victim of enforced disappearance.

Evidence indicates the army targeted individuals based on their identity, focusing on individuals from Darfur in western Sudan, whom they consider as collaborators since the RSF are from Darfur. A detained man told Human Rights Watch that he and other Darfuris fleeing to Khartoum were beaten and arrested by security forces, who said, “You Darfuris are troublemakers; you brought the war to us.”

The army and its affiliates also appear to have targeted members of civil society, including local humanitarian workers, accusing them of collaboration. One interviewee working in eastern Khartoum said that after the army regained control of the area in March 2025, security cell forces interrogated members of his volunteer group and forcibly expelled civilians displaced from shelters they had taken refuge in. He added that in April, they detained him for 17 days, questioning him about the popular soups his group distributed and their sources of funding. The Prosecutor’s Office denied such accusations.

The Prosecutor’s Office, in collaboration with the judiciary, should immediately release all illegally detained individuals and allow independent observers and investigators access to official or informal detention centers. April 15 marks the third anniversary of the conflict’s beginning, and it is high time authorities allow full and unimpeded access to the country for the United Nations-mandated Independent International Fact-Finding Mission for Sudan and the African Commission on Human and Peoples’ Rights (ACHPR)-mandated Joint Fact-Finding Mission on the human rights situation in Sudan. The Prosecutor’s Office reaffirmed that the investigative mission was not necessary, as their office and local authorities were already investigating, deeming international investigative mechanisms unnecessary.

International and regional actors and entities should publicly urge army officials and their affiliated authorities to end discriminatory actions against certain communities and categories of individuals, including local volunteers, ensure all legal proceedings are evidence-based, and strictly adhere to procedural guarantees.

In late February, five countries – Germany, Ireland, Norway, the Netherlands, and the United Kingdom – formed a coalition to prevent atrocities in Sudan. This coalition should take concrete steps to combat abusive detention practices, especially ongoing arrests based on ethnicity, humanitarian work, or political activism. It should support ongoing investigations, push for independent access to detention centers, and support efforts to expand the International Criminal Court’s jurisdiction throughout Sudan.

“Authorities should end arbitrary detentions and provide reparations to detainees and their families,” concluded Mohamed Osman. “International and regional actors should clearly warn Sudanese Armed Forces leaders that they will be held accountable for these abuses.”

Detailed follow-up online in English.