Nyala, July 07 (Darfur24)
The families of two detainees from the town of Buram in South Darfur State say they have learned that their relatives died while in detention at Daqris prison, months after being arrested by the Rapid Support Forces (RSF).
Relatives said they were informed of the deaths of Idris Mohamed Saleh, director of the Civil Service Bureau in Buram locality, and Ahmed Ismail Hussein by former detainees released from the prison last Thursday.
A relative of Idris Mohamed Saleh, who requested anonymity for security reasons, told Darfur24 that Saleh was arrested in February during a large-scale RSF security campaign in Buram on allegations of supporting the Sudanese army before being transferred to Daqris prison, west of Nyala.
The family said they learned from recently released detainees that Saleh died in mid-March, about a month after his arrest. According to the former detainees, he had been denied medical treatment and suffered from inadequate food and healthcare while in custody.
The relative said the family has received no official notification from the authorities regarding his death and only held funeral rites after hearing the news from those released from prison.
Ahmed Hassan, a community leader in Buram, told Darfur24 that the family of Ahmed Ismail Hussein also learned of his death through former detainees.
He said Hussein had returned from Saudi Arabia to visit his family before being arrested by the RSF and transferred to Daqris prison without any publicly known charges.
According to the released detainees, Hussein died in mid-June, although they were unable to specify the cause of death. His family also said it has not received any official notification from the RSF regarding his death or burial.
The RSF maintains tight security around Daqris prison in Al-Salam locality, where relatives say family visits are heavily restricted and usually require mediation by local leaders or intervention from RSF officers.
Darfur24 has previously documented similar cases in which families learned of detainees’ deaths through prisoners released from Daqris prison rather than through official channels.
There are no official figures on the number of detainees held at the facility. However, former prisoners told Darfur24 that the prison houses thousands of detainees from Darfur, Kordofan, Khartoum, Al Jazirah and Sennar states.
Darfur24 was unable to obtain a comment from the Rapid Support Forces regarding the allegations.