The IPI global network calls on the Sudanese paramilitary Rapid Support Forces (RSF) to release journalist El Rashid Mohamed Haroun immediately and allow the press to report freely in areas under RSF control.
In late July, RSF soldiers arrested Haroun while in Ardaba Market, El Geneina, the capital of West Darfur State, local journalists said. Prior to his arrest, the RSF had raided his home and confiscated his equipment, the Sudan Journalists Syndicate reported. The RSF held him in a detention centre without providing any reasons and denied his family access, a relative said, requesting anonymity for security reasons.
In early August, the RSF transferred Haroun to Degris Prison, southwest of the state capital Nyala in South Darfur, where he remains held. Since the outbreak of conflict between the army and the RSF on 15 April 2023, the RSF have taken near total control of the western Darfur area, marking Nyala as their administrative capital. Haroun previously worked as the director of the local radio station Darfur 90.3 as well as several online news channels. Until August 2024, Haroun had worked in the media office for West Darfur State Governor Tijani El Tahir Karshom, local journalists told IPI.
Haroun’s family—now displaced by the conflict in Sudan and living in neighbouring Chad—is deeply concerned about him and fears his health may be deteriorating while under detention.
“Authorities within the Rapid Support Forces must release Haroun immediately and return all of his confiscated equipment,” said IPI Africa Advocacy and Engagement Lead Nompilo Simanje. “The Rapid Support Forces must end this pernicious trend of arbitrarily detaining journalists and allow the media to freely cover events in Sudan, including the ongoing conflict.”
Both warring parties in the conflict – Sudan’s national army and the Rapid Support Forces – have repeatedly targeted the press, local journalists told IPI. “Both sides of the war routinely target journalists,” said Mohammed Abdelaziz, the secretary-general of the Sudan Journalists Syndicate. “Whether it’s the army or the RSF, they often detain and arrest journalists without any charges, inducing many journalists to flee the country,” he said. Since the start of the war, the Syndicate has documented a startling 239 cases of journalist detention.
“Any journalist working in Darfur faces extreme dangers,” said Mohammed El-Fateh, managing editor of the independent media house, Darfur24. “If you hold a camera, you are immediately a target. If you carry a gun, no one minds, but a camera is a different story. The situation is so precarious that many journalists in Darfur either self-censor or leave the profession.”
Repeated calls to the RSF spokesperson were left unanswered.