Activists say a body known locally as the “security cell” is monitoring social media across Sudan and ordering swift arrests of users who post about the war, hunger, or criticize Port Sudan junta authorities.
The reports come amid new limits on WhatsApp connectivity and wide-ranging arrest campaigns in several cities. In Al-Qutaynah, White Nile state, local sources said the security cell and prosecutors have taken control of aid and blocked distribution, detaining activists who protested the policy.
In Port Sudan, Red Sea state, the city’s Resistance Committees said security forces detained humanitarian volunteer Barir al-Tom, a member of a local emergency room. The committees held the authorities fully responsible for his physical and psychological safety, noting his prominent role in relief efforts for the displaced and other war-affected groups.
Rights advocates say hundreds of activists, resistance committee members, and government critics have been arrested during the war, with documented testimonies of torture, enforced disappearance, and deaths in custody.
The “security cell” is described as having formed after the Rapid Support Forces withdrew from Khartoum in March 2025. The Emergency Lawyers group says it has recorded 162 unlawful detentions, including 121 in the capital alone. Sixteen people are listed as missing, and some detainees have died in custody with their bodies later recovered. Others are reportedly released in poor health or prosecuted in proceedings that fall short of basic fair-trial standards.
