SALMA AL-RASHID

 Sudan- More than 14,000 civilians have been killed and some 8,5 million people have been forced to flee their homes since conflict between the Sudanese Armed Forces (SAF) and the Rapid Support Forces (RSF) erupted in Sudan on April 15, 2023. Since the outbreak of the conflict.

Enforced disappearance has been a common practice in Sudan. In October 2023, Sudanese civil society groups launched a campaign called “Where Did You Take Them” to highlight this issue.

The names of the civil society groups initiated the campaign are: The Sudanese Group for Victims of Enforced Disappearances, the Missing Initiative, the Sudan Democratic Front Lawyers (SDLF), the SIHA Network, the No to Women’s Oppression Initiative, the Sudanese Journalists Network, the Sudanese Visual Artists Association, and the Sudanese Tweeters Platform.

Lawyer Rania Adam told NuJINHA that the SDLF participated in the campaign after being invited by the Office of the United Nations High Commissioner for Human Rights to contribute to the reports prepared by the UN Committee on Enforced Disappearances, noting that Sudan signed and ratified the UN Convention Against Torture and the International Convention for the Protection of All Persons from Enforced Disappearances in 2021.

At least 990 cases of enforced disappearance in Sudan conflict

The Missing Initiative, a Sudanese civil society group, released a report in April 2024. The initiative documented at least 990 cases of enforced disappearance since the conflict erupted between the Sudanese Armed Forces (SAF) and the paramilitary Rapid Support Forces (RSF). Among the victims were 95 women and at least 50 children. “We launched the campaign with the aim of shedding light on this issue. Enforced disappearance is a crime against humanity under national and international laws.”

Speaking about the report by the Missing Initiative, she said, “The number of enforced disappearances is higher. Some families have no opportunity to report the missing of their relatives.”

‘The officers who conduct the investigations and arrest people are the same’

Salwa Saeed, member of the SDLF, told us that the campaign was launched to shed light on the issue of enforced disappearance and to know their whereabouts. “Sudan has been suffering from enforced disappearance for over 30 years. The issue of enforced disappearance has been deteriorating in recent years. According to the testimonies of the survivors, about 800 people have been held in detention centers. The total number of the victims of enforced disappearance is unknown because the officers, who conduct the investigations and arrest people, are the same.”