Hundreds dead in RSF-run prison in Sudan's North Darfur
More than 300 people have died over the last two months in a Sudanese prison run by the Rapid Support Forces (RSF) paramilitary.
The detainees in Shala prison southwest of el-Fasher, the capital of North Darfur state, died because of a deterioration of basic health conditions and the denial of basic medical treatment, a local group said.
The prison has been controlled by the RSF since late October and is believed to be housing 9,000 civilians in brutal conditions.
Shala is also reported to be the site of a major cholera outbreak, which is causing up to ten deaths a week.
The Popular Resistance, a volunteer-run group in Sudan, has said that poor medical conditions have led to severe outbreaks of infection, including among civilians who have been left injured as a result of shelling.
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Bodies of dead prisoners are often said to be left in their cells with remaining detainees.
The alleged abuses are part of a broad range of severe human rights violations reported to have been committed by RSF members.
Fifteen people were allegedly executed in a university dormitory after they were accused of belonging to an enemy group.
El-Fasher was overrun by the RSF in October after a siege of more than 550 days. Doctors Without Borders reported at the beginning of the month that the city itself was “largely destroyed”, with “few civilians remaining”.
Those who escaped the city before and during its capture told Middle East Eye that civilians had been executed, raped and looted in large numbers.
They also said that RSF fighters had taken blood from them.
Other abuses have been reported, including the targeting of those with disabilities and trapping large groups in trenches before opening fire on them.
Before the RSF took over, around 260,000 people lived in el-Fasher. But as of December, there were “anywhere between 70,000 and 100,000 people potentially remaining trapped inside” the city, according to the UN’s World Food Programme.
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