Sudan's RSF holding survivors of Darfur siege for ransom, witnesses say

The Sudanese paramilitary force that besieged then overran a city in Darfur in late October is systematically holding trapped residents for ransom, killing or beating those whose families cannot pay, witnesses, aid workers and researchers say.

Reuters could not determine exactly how many people the paramilitary Rapid Support Forces (RSF) and allied militias have detained in and around Al Fasher, capital of North Darfur. But the accounts suggest that large groups are being held in a cluster of villages within 80 kilometres of Al Fasher, while others have been brought back into the city as the RSF demands payments worth thousands of dollars from their relatives.

Their detention shows the risks faced by those who were unable to reach safety from Al Fasher, which had been the final significant holdout against the RSF in the western Darfur region before its fall. Witnesses have described mass reprisals including summary executions and sexual violence since the RSF takeover.

It also sheds light on the plight of some of the tens of thousands of people who are unaccounted for as aid agencies push to gain access to famine-stricken Al Fasher and its environs, which became a focal point in the two-and-a-half-year-old war between the RSF and Sudan's army.

Ransom

Reuters interviewed 33 former captives as well as 10 aid workers and researchers, who provided previously unreported details about the violence captives faced, the locations where they were held and the scale of the detentions.

Survivors described paying ransoms of between 5 million ($1,400) and 60 million ($17,000) Sudanese pounds – vast sums in the region.

Many of those who could not pay were shot at close range or mowed down in groups, 11 survivors said, while other captives were badly beaten.

A Reuters reporter saw survivors who had fled over the border to Chad bearing injuries that appeared to be from beatings and gunshots. Reuters could not verify their accounts in full.

Survivor accounts

"They give you three or four days, and if you don't transfer the money, they kill you," said Mohamed Ismail, who spoke with Reuters by phone from Tawila, a town near Al Fasher under the control of neutral forces.

Ismail said he had left Al Fasher as the RSF took over the city on October 26, but was captured by the RSF in a village called Um Jalbakh among a group of 24 men.

He and his nephew were each made to gather 10 million Sudanese pounds from family before being set free. Nine other men were killed in front of them, he said.

Asked for comment, RSF legal adviser Mohamed Mukhtar said most cases of detention and extortion of people from Al Fasher had been carried out by a rival group whose members disguise themselves in RSF uniforms.

Residents flee 

The International Organization for Migration (IOM) estimates that more than 100,000 people have fled Al Fasher since the RSF takeover.

Aid agencies say more than 15,000 of those have arrived in Tawila and about 9,500 crossed into Chad, but most remain in RSF-controlled villages around Al Fasher, including Garney, Korma, Um Jalbakh, Shagra, Hilat Alsheikh, Jebel Wana and Tora.

Researchers are unclear how many remain within Al Fashir itself. Aid groups said some residents were unable to flee because they could not pay for transport out of the city, or were too sick or injured to travel.

Alleged torture

Since its takeover of Al Fasher, the RSF has posted videos and live streams of people being given food and medical care in the city.

A nurse who said she had been held there by the RSF told Reuters its fighters filmed her receiving food and saying she was being well treated.

"They did a video showing that they treated us well. They do that: they torture you one moment, and then put you on live the next," she said.