AMNESTY REPORTS DETENTION AND TORTURE IN EL FASHER

Amnesty International says civilians in El Fasher face detention, torture and restricted access to humanitarian aid one year after the Rapid Support Forces (RSF) captured the city. People who escaped told the organisation that the RSF controlled their movements and used schools as detention centres. Amnesty also reported unlawful killings and surveillance of residents and humanitarian workers. Figures gathered by humanitarian organisations put the number of people remaining in the North Darfur city at 70,000 or fewer, down from more than one million before the war. Amnesty International Secretary General Agnès Callamard said: “A pervasive pall of fear hangs over El Fasher today.”

Amnesty interviewed 25 civilians over two months about conditions in the city, including 19 residents and six humanitarian workers. Seventeen residents said they had spent time in RSF detention centres, and 15 left El Fasher between July and August 2026. Modathir, a Zaghawa man whose name Amnesty changed to protect his identity, said he escaped detention. “Torture is something which is permanent in any [RSF] detention,” he told the organisation. Amnesty said Zaghawa and Masalit people faced a greater risk of detention and abuse.

Amnesty said limited humanitarian access left children at risk of malnutrition and reported testimony of detainees left to die of starvation. The organisation has accused the RSF of crimes against humanity and ethnic cleansing during its campaign in North Darfur. It called for a ceasefire and the urgent deployment of an international force. Amnesty also urged countries, including the UK, to halt arms transfers to the United Arab Emirates until it stops supplying weapons to the RSF.