A Sudanese rights group says it has documented allegations that Sudanese Armed Forces-linked units carried out arbitrary arrests, torture and extrajudicial executions in Gezira state, including claims that detainees died in custody and were buried in mass graves.
The Darfur Victims Advocacy Organization said it interviewed a 57-year-old civilian who described being arrested from his home in Bika village, in the Al-Madina Arab administrative unit of southern Gezira, before being transferred between detention sites operated by SAF Special Action Forces and Sudanese army intelligence.
According to the testimony, SAF-linked security and military forces conducted arrest campaigns in villages across southern Gezira following the expansion of military operations in the state. Residents were allegedly accused of cooperating with the Rapid Support Forces on the basis of suspicion and regional identity.
The witness, identified as Haroun Adam Adoum Mohammed, alleged that detainees were subjected to torture, hunger and severe conditions, resulting in the deaths of a large number of prisoners.
He also alleged that detainees were shot dead without judicial proceedings and that bodies were subsequently buried in mass graves in Managil.
The organization said the testimony contained serious allegations of arbitrary detention, torture, looting, extrajudicial killing and the use of unofficial detention facilities.
It stressed that the claims have not yet been independently verified and called for the preservation of testimony and evidence, interviews with other survivors and victims’ families, and the identification and protection of alleged detention sites and mass graves.
The group said that, if confirmed, executions of detainees without judicial proceedings would amount to extrajudicial killings and grave violations of the right to life.
It added that killings, torture and cruel treatment committed in connection with Sudan’s conflict could constitute war crimes if the required legal elements are established.
The organization cautioned against announcing definitive casualty figures until further investigations and verification are completed.
Sudan has been at war since April 2023, when fighting erupted between the SAF and the Rapid Support Forces, triggering mass displacement, widespread hunger and a severe humanitarian crisis.
