Security as an Instrument of Political and Ethnic Exclusion: Arbitrary Detention, Selective Targeting of Youth, and the Entrenchment of Enforced Disappearance in Areas under the Control of the Sudanese Armed Forces
Date: 19 December 2025
In this report, the Darfur Victims Support Organization documents a new incident that reflects a deeply entrenched pattern of grave and systematic violations committed in areas under the control of the Sudanese Armed Forces and the security apparatuses affiliated with the Port Sudan government. In these areas, the security system has been transformed from a mechanism intended to protect civilians into a tool for political exclusion, selective targeting, and the reproduction of repression along political and ethnic lines, within a context where security operations intersect with the unlawful elimination of civilian opponents outside the bounds of the law.
Credible testimonies obtained by the Darfur Victims Support Organization from within Al-Qadarif State indicate that, at approximately 10:00 p.m. on Wednesday, 18 December 2025, the state witnessed a campaign of nighttime raids and arrests carried out by a heavily armed security force affiliated with one of the security agencies linked to the Port Sudan government. The force stormed civilian homes without prior notice and without presenting arrest warrants or search orders, in blatant violation of the most basic legal safeguards, and proceeded to arrest civilian activists and members of the Resistance Committees who were known for their involvement in the December Revolution or for their opposition political positions.
According to the documentation of the Darfur Victims Support Organization, the campaign included the arrest of Wagdi Khalifa, a prominent figure in the revolutionary movement, who was taken from his home without any charges being brought against him. Israa Al-Rashid, a university student, was also arrested, along with Ayman Hariri, Mohammed Adam Mamadou, Moatasim Osman, Mohammed Ali, Musab Abdelrahim, and Rayan Kola. All of these civilians were taken to unknown locations, without their families being informed of the place of detention or the reasons for their arrest, plunging their relatives into a state of severe anxiety and legitimate fear regarding their fate.
The gravity of this incident stems not only from the nature of the arrests themselves, but also from the broader context in which they occurred. The Darfur Victims Support Organization affirms that this campaign forms part of a wider policy pursued by security agencies in areas under the control of the Sudanese army, based on the systematic targeting of youth, particularly those perceived as extensions of the revolution or as opponents of the re-empowerment of the National Congress Party and its allies. This targeting is often explicitly political and, in many cases, intersects with ethnic and regional dimensions, thereby reproducing patterns of exclusion and collective punishment that Sudan has experienced in previous periods.
In this context, the Darfur Victims Advocacy Organization expresses grave concern over the reactivation of what is known as the “Strangers’ Faces Law” and other exceptional measures, and their use as a formal legal cover to legitimize arbitrary detention. As documented by the organization in several states, the application of this law has led to the arrest of thousands of civilians—many of them young people—on the basis of alleged suspicion or political suspicion, with numerous cases ultimately resulting in enforced disappearance, extrajudicial killings, or the referral of detainees to trials lacking independence and impartiality, under criminal provisions carrying penalties up to the death sentence, without genuine guarantees of a fair trial.
The Darfur Victims Support Organization considers that what occurred in Al-Qadarif State cannot be isolated from this broader trajectory, but rather constitutes a new link in a chain of practices aimed at emptying the public sphere of any peaceful civilian opposition, dismantling the role of the Resistance Committees, and spreading fear within society, in preparation for the reimposition of an absolute security authority grounded in repression rather than legitimacy. The selective nature of these arrests, and the targeting of a specific age group, further reflects a systematic approach to punishing youth as political actors, rather than as individuals who have committed criminal acts.
The Darfur Victims Advocacy Organization affirms that these practices constitute serious violations of the Transitional Constitution and of Sudan’s international obligations under international human rights law, in particular the right to liberty and personal security, the prohibition of arbitrary detention, the prohibition of enforced disappearance, and the right to a fair trial. Moreover, the continued detention of civilians in undisclosed locations, and the denial of information to their families regarding their fate, raise serious concerns about their potential exposure to torture or cruel, inhuman, or degrading treatment.
Accordingly, the Darfur Victims Support Organization holds the security authorities affiliated with the Port Sudan government fully responsible for the safety and well-being of Wagdi Khalifa, Israa Al-Rashid, Ayman Hariri, Mohammed Adam Mamadou, Moatasim Osman, Mohammed Ali, Musab Abdelrahim, and Rayan Kola, and demands the immediate disclosure of their places of detention and the guarantee of their full legal rights. The organization further stresses the necessity of their immediate and unconditional release, or—should any genuine legal allegations exist—their prompt presentation before an independent civilian judiciary that meets all standards of justice. It underscores that the continuation of such violations, in the absence of accountability, will only deepen the national crisis and undermine any prospects for peace or democratic transition in Sudan.
