Twenty-six men, arrested by Sudanese Armed Forces (SAF) while taking refuge at a church in October, were later released.

The men were arrested between October 6 and 10 while staying at a Sudanese Church of Christ (SCOC) church in Shendi. The city is 180km north of Khartoum, the capital, from where the men had fled with their families after fighting between the SAF and Rapid Support Forces (RSF) intensified in the city. Most of the men are Christians and members of the SCOC, although Christian Solidarity Worldwide (SCW) reported that at least one of the detainees was a Muslim.

At the time of the arrests, members of the SAF military intelligence unit separated the men from the women and children, with all males over aged 18 detained. According to CSW they were harassed, beaten and interrogated, and accused of affiliation with the RSF, although no formal charges were issued.

Fourteen of the men were released on October12 and 13, and Open Doors reported the remaining 12 had been freed by November 5.

CSW founder president Mervyn Thomas said that the organisation was concerned about ‘the deteriorating humanitarian situation of internally displaced persons’ in Sudan, and called on both the SAF and RSF to ‘adhere to international humanitarian law and respect their international obligations’.

(Open Doors / CSW)