Sudan War: How Has the Detention of Women Become a Tool of Extortio

The detention of women in Sudan is no longer merely a routine security measure amid the war. According to human rights testimonies, it has become a recurring pattern involving allegations of arbitrary detention, torture, and financial extortion. Families of detained and forcibly disappeared women are left facing an uncertain fate, sometimes without even knowing whether their relatives are still alive.

Hala Al-Karib, Regional Director of the Strategic Initiative for Women in the Horn of Africa, said in a report prepared by Al Jazeera’s digital sector that the Rapid Support Forces (RSF) are responsible for the detention of large numbers of women, including six activists and journalists in Nyala, South Darfur, as well as others in different areas.

She identified the six detainees as Mawahib Ibrahim, Manahil Mustafa, Zahra Mohamed Al-Hassan, Izdihar Abdel-Moneim Hamed, Majida Hassan Ali, and Sara Mustafa. She said the women had been activists in Nyala and were involved in supporting women and girls.

Al-Karib explained that the women had been detained since April of this year without clear justification, and that there is still no confirmed information about their whereabouts or what has happened to them.

Detentions Without Trials

Al-Karib believes that the detention of women has become a feature of the war in Sudan, both in areas controlled by the RSF and those controlled by the Sudanese Army, where women are repeatedly criminalized and detained.

However, she said the situation in RSF-controlled areas is more opaque, as there are reportedly no clear legal procedures, convictions, or trials explaining the reasons for the detentions. She added that even the procedures for releasing women remain unclear and, in many cases, are reportedly linked to the payment of money in exchange for their release.

The practices, she said, represent a serious catastrophe, stressing that the war has exacerbated the scale of violations faced by women and girls in Sudan.

A Source of Fear

The risks do not end at the moment of arrest, according to the regional official. They extend into detention facilities, where detained women—particularly in areas controlled by the RSF—face significant risks, including various forms of torture and abuse.

She cited the case of Khadmatallah Musa, a woman currently serving a 20-year prison sentence in Omdurman Prison after being arrested and accused of collaboration. Al-Karib considers the basis for the charges in this case to be “very weak,” describing it as another example of how the detention of women has become a widespread pattern during the war.

She said families with detained women are also living under severe tension and anxiety because of the lack of clear information about their fate and the absence of sufficient efforts to address the issue, whether at the international and regional levels or by officials in areas controlled by the RSF.

Women Behind Bars

Al-Karib emphasized that the detentions are not limited to Nyala, but also involve women held in Kober Prison, as well as women in El Fasher in North Darfur and Zalingei in Central Darfur, alongside large numbers of women who have been forcibly disappeared.

She said the fate of many of these women remains unknown, with no one knowing whether they are being held alive or whether they have died.

She noted that the situation creates a “huge legal responsibility” for the parties responsible, amid continued arbitrary arrests, detention, and torture.

Al-Karib placed the detention of women within the broader context of violations resulting from the war, emphasizing that women are bearing the burden of the conflict in multiple ways—from arrest, arbitrary detention, and torture to what she described as widespread crimes of sexual violence.