A year after the capture of El-Fasher by Sudan’s Rapid Support Forces (RSF), Amnesty International has released a report alleging ongoing grave abuses against civilians in the North Darfur city. The investigation, published on October 23, 2026, reports arbitrary detentions, torture, unlawful killings, and forced labour based on testimonies Amnesty says it collected from survivors.
Amnesty’s research team collected testimonies in August and September 2026 from 25 individuals, including 19 residents of El-Fasher and six humanitarian workers. Of the residents interviewed, 17 reported being detained for several months by the RSF, often after returning to the city to recover belongings or search for missing relatives. Former detainees described being subjected to beatings, summary executions, and deprivation of food and water. Some were released after their families paid ransoms, while others managed to escape on their own.
The report highlights that members of the Zaghawa and Masalit communities may have been particularly exposed to arrest and mistreatment by the RSF. Amnesty also found that schools were being used as makeshift detention centers for women, children, the elderly, and the wounded. Nine interviewees said they were held in such facilities, where they faced food shortages and lacked adequate medical care.
In addition to arbitrary detention, some residents were reportedly forced to collect bodies from the streets, clear debris, or perform domestic tasks for RSF members without pay. Amnesty’s secretary general, Agnès Callamard, described the situation in El-Fasher as one of pervasive fear, with constant surveillance and ongoing threats of detention, torture, and death for the remaining population.
Humanitarian organizations cited by Amnesty estimate that fewer than 70,000 people remain in El-Fasher, compared to over a million before the outbreak of war. Access to humanitarian aid is still severely limited, and the risk of malnutrition, especially among children, remains high. Amnesty reported that it analyzed satellite images of several detention sites and requested comment from the RSF on October 9, but had not received a response by the time of publication.
Amnesty International is calling for an immediate ceasefire, the deployment of an international civilian protection force, and a halt to arms deliveries to all parties involved in the conflict. The war in Sudan, which began in April 2023 between the regular army and the RSF, has triggered a major humanitarian crisis and forced hundreds of thousands of people to seek refuge in neighboring Chad.