The Darfur Victims Support Organization expresses its deep concern over the ongoing arbitrary mass arrests of Darfur and Kordofan natives in Northern and River Nile States. These arrests are being carried out under what is referred to as the “The Law on Strangers’ Faces,” a vague and discretionary regulation that grants security and police authorities the power to detain anyone not originating from the region on grounds of “suspicion,” without any clear legal basis. This law has become a tool of discrimination and regional targeting, providing cover for the arbitrary detention of hundreds of citizens. Many have been thrown into prisons, subjected to unfair trials, or forcibly disappeared under the false pretext of affiliation with the Rapid Support Forces.
In this context, on 1 October 2025, the organization conducted an interview with Mr. Ahmed Adam Ibrahim from the village of Al-Mashroot – Haskanita Administrative Unit, El-Lait Jar Al-Nabi Locality, North Darfur State. He is the father of the following detainees:
1. Badr Al-Din Ahmed Adam (22 years old) – Secondary school student.
2. Ibrahim Adam Ibrahim (26 years old) – Farmer.
3. Musa Amin Ibrahim (25 years old) – Farmer.
4. Ahmed Suleiman Ibrahim (25 years old) – Final-year student at Omdurman Islamic University.
According to their father, his sons left their village on 2 February 2025 in search of work in the gold mining fields of Abu Hamed, Northern State. After a long journey across several states, they settled there and worked in artisanal mining for two months. On 20 April 2025, they went to Abu Hamed market to purchase mobile phones to stay in touch with their family, after which they rented a room to spend the night. In the early hours of 24 April 2025, a joint force from the police and the security cell raided their lodging and arrested them under the “The Law on Strangers’ Faces.”
The four young men were subjected to physical and psychological torture, in addition to degrading racist insults, for seven consecutive days before being thrown into overcrowded cells. They remained in detention for over two months. Their family was only allowed to visit them after 45 days, following which they were transferred to the Atbara Police Headquarters, where they were charged with serious offenses against the state. Their mobile phones were sent to the criminal evidence department in Khartoum.
Their father reported that his sons are suffering from deteriorating physical and psychological conditions as a result of torture and ill-treatment, in addition to contracting skin diseases such as allergies. He stressed that his sons have no connection to any political or military activity, and that their trip to Abu Hamed was solely in pursuit of honest work to secure their future.
Recommendations of the Organization
1. Immediate and unconditional release of the four detainees and the dismissal of all malicious charges against them.
2. Urging local, regional, and international organizations to intervene urgently to provide legal support and advocacy for the detainees, and to monitor the ongoing violations targeting the people of Darfur and Kordofan.
3. Calling for an end to regional and racial targeting of marginalized communities in Northern and River Nile States, and halting the use of the “The Law on Strangers’ Faces” as a tool of repression and discrimination.
4. Emphasizing that this case is not an isolated incident but rather part of a wider campaign that has involved hundreds of arbitrary arrests, unfair sentences, and enforced disappearances—warranting an independent international investigation and urgent accountability.
