UN warns of growing detention and torture crisis in Sudan

UN experts describe a growing climate of fear in which ordinary people face punishment based on perceived loyalties, family ties, political views, or simply moving between areas controlled by opposing sides.

Sudan's conflict is driving a deepening human rights crisis, with civilians increasingly facing arbitrary detention, torture, enforced disappearances, and extortion as rival armed groups tighten control over populations caught in the war, according to a new warning from the United Nations Fact-Finding Mission on Sudan.

The Mission says serious violations committed by the Sudanese Armed Forces (SAF), the Rapid Support Forces (RSF), and their allied groups continue across the country, with civilians paying the highest price as the conflict enters its fourth year. Investigators warn that some of the documented abuses may amount to war crimes and crimes against humanity.

UN experts describe a growing climate of fear in which ordinary people face punishment based on perceived loyalties, family ties, political views, or simply moving between areas controlled by opposing sides.

Civilians trapped between rival forces

The report details a pattern of arbitrary arrests carried out by both the SAF and the RSF against people suspected of supporting rival groups. Many detainees are reportedly held without legal process, access to lawyers, or judicial oversight.

Travelling across front lines has become increasingly dangerous. Civilians passing through checkpoints risk detention, interrogation, abuse, or accusations of collaborating with the opposing side. Journalists, humanitarian workers, activists, community leaders, traders, and relatives of combatants have all been targeted.

Investigators say many civilians now feel pressured to publicly demonstrate loyalty to one side as a condition for maintaining their safety, freedom, and ability to earn a living. In some areas, movement itself has become a source of suspicion, creating additional barriers for families already struggling with displacement and insecurity.

Extortion and disappearances add to humanitarian suffering

The Mission documented numerous cases in which families were allegedly forced to pay large sums of money to secure the release of detained relatives. In some instances, ransom demands reportedly reached tens of thousands of dollars, placing overwhelming financial pressure on households already affected by conflict and displacement.

Particular concern was raised over the disappearance of at least 70 people arrested by RSF military intelligence in El Geneina during May 2026. Those detained reportedly included humanitarian workers who have not been heard from since their arrest. Their whereabouts remain unknown, and relatives have reportedly been denied information about their legal status or location.

The report states that such actions not only harm individuals and families but also disrupt humanitarian operations that millions of Sudanese depend on for survival.

Harsh detention conditions and abuse reported across Sudan

Investigators received extensive testimony describing overcrowded detention facilities, severe shortages of food and medical care, poor sanitation, and widespread physical abuse under both sides of the conflict.

Detainees reportedly described beatings, electrocution, sexual violence, psychological abuse, and coercive interrogations. Some cases allegedly resulted in death. Concerns were also raised about sexual violence against women and girls in RSF-controlled areas and reports of sexualised torture against male detainees held by SAF forces.

Independent monitors and humanitarian organisations have largely been denied access to detention facilities, making verification difficult and leaving many families searching for missing relatives without answers.

The UN Mission is calling for the immediate release of individuals detained without legal basis, access for independent observers to all detention centres, disclosure of the whereabouts of detainees, and stronger international efforts to ensure accountability for those responsible for serious abuses.