SAR Condemns Death of Humanitarian Volunteer in Custody and Calls for Immediate Action to Protect Detainees in El Fasher.

The Sudanese Alliance for Rights (SAR) is deeply alarmed and saddened by the reported death of humanitarian volunteer Al-Tayeb Al-Tom Mersal while in the custody of the Rapid Support Forces (RSF) at Shala Prison in El Fasher, North Darfur.

According to the Sudan Doctors Network, Mersal had been detained since the RSF took control of El Fasher in October 2025 and died inside Shala Prison on 20 September 2026. He reportedly spent almost a year in detention, separated from his family and without meaningful communication with the outside world.

The death of Al-Tayeb Al-Tom Mersal is not simply a death in detention. It is a devastating reminder of the human cost of the continuing detention crisis in El Fasher, where thousands of people are reportedly being held in conditions hidden from independent scrutiny.

The Sudan Doctors Network has reported that more than 3,000 people are being held at Shala Prison and other sites reportedly converted into detention centres, including residential buildings and facilities within the University of El Fasher. According to the Network, many detainees have been denied communication with their families for nearly a year. Their loved ones have been left without answers about where they are, whether they are alive, or what conditions they are enduring. The Network has also reported deteriorating humanitarian and medical conditions and other deaths inside detention facilities.

These reports demand urgent attention. No person should disappear into detention without their family knowing where they are. No civilian should be left to die without access to adequate food, water or medical care. And no detention facility should be allowed to operate beyond independent scrutiny.

The concerns surrounding Shala Prison are not new. In May 2026, United Nations Special Procedures raised serious allegations concerning arbitrary detention, deaths in custody, torture and ill-treatment at the facility, as well as life-threatening shortages of food, water and medical care. These allegations underscore the urgent need for independent access and investigation.

The reported treatment of detainees raises serious concerns under both international human rights law and international humanitarian law. Common Article 3 of the Geneva Conventions requires persons deprived of their liberty in situations of armed conflict to be treated humanely and prohibits murder, torture, cruel treatment and outrages upon personal dignity.

Sudan is also bound by the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights (ICCPR). Article 6 protects the right to life; Article 7 prohibits torture and cruel, inhuman or degrading treatment; Article 9 protects against arbitrary arrest and detention; and Article 10 requires that all persons deprived of their liberty be treated with humanity and respect for their inherent dignity. The reported prolonged detention of civilians, lack of communication with families, alleged ill-treatment, deprivation of essential necessities and deaths in custody raise serious concerns regarding these obligations.

Where such conduct is established in connection with the armed conflict, acts including murder, torture and cruel treatment may also constitute war crimes under international law, depending on the circumstances and available evidence.

SAR calls on the RSF to immediately clarify the circumstances surrounding the death of Al-Tayeb Al-Tom Mersal and to disclose the whereabouts and status of all persons held in its custody in El Fasher. All detainees must be treated humanely and provided with adequate food, clean water, medical care and other essential necessities. Civilians who are being unlawfully or arbitrarily detained must be released.

SAR further calls for immediate, independent and unhindered access to Shala Prison and all other detention sites in El Fasher for humanitarian organisations, medical personnel, lawyers and independent human rights monitors. Such access is urgently needed to establish the number and condition of detainees, identify those who have died or gone missing, provide humanitarian and medical assistance, and ensure that families receive information about the fate and whereabouts of their loved ones.

SAR urges the United Nations, African Union, African Commission on Human and Peoples’ Rights and other relevant international and regional mechanisms to urgently address the situation of detainees in El Fasher and press for independent access to detention facilities. Credible and impartial investigations must be conducted into reported deaths in custody, allegations of torture and ill-treatment, and other violations, with perpetrators held accountable in accordance with international law.

Al-Tayeb Al-Tom Mersal should not become another name lost among the thousands of civilians whose fate remains unknown in Sudan's war. His reported death demands answers—not silence. His family deserves to know what happened to him, and every person still held in detention deserves protection, dignity and the right to life.

SAR stands in solidarity with the family of Al-Tayeb Al-Tom Mersal and with all families who continue to wait for news of loved ones detained or missing in Sudan. The lives of detainees cannot be hidden behind prison walls. Their rights must be protected, their suffering must be brought to light, and those responsible for violations must be held accountable.

Sudanese Alliance for Rights (SAR), 

21 September 2026.