Khartoum- The family of Kamal Musa has been living in great anxiety for two weeks after the mysterious disappearance of its breadwinner in the Jabra neighborhood (south of the Sudanese capital), to join a long list of missing people swarming with social media, since the start of fierce clashes between the Sudanese army and the Rapid Support Forces in mid-April. last April.
And the disappearance of Kamal (37 years old) since the sixth of May this year, there are great question marks and sadness residing among the family, as Kamal was preparing to leave for Egypt. According to his brother Khaled Musa, his brother intended to accompany their sick father so that he could continue his treatment, but he left the house two weeks ago and has not returned yet.
Speaking to Al-Jazeera Net, Musa said that the family informed the Red Cross and many local agencies and organizations of his brother’s disappearance, hoping to help them.
Since the outbreak of the armed conflict in Khartoum, most police stations have closed their doors and completely disappeared from the scene, leaving ample room for gangs and habitual criminals. Dozens of families wishing to report disappearances and missing persons have been bewildered.
targeting youth
Eyewitnesses who were on the way to travel between Khartoum and the Nile River state told Al Jazeera Net that the military points on the road take harsh measures and violate international laws and human rights, when dealing with male travelers, especially young men.
A humanitarian activist told Al-Jazeera Net that he was subjected to searches, violence and looting at the hands of members of the Rapid Support Forces at its focal point off the Halfaya Bridge. He confirmed that the officers stopped the car, whatever it was, got into it, and asked the young men to disembark, carrying their personal bags.
He added, “He and 5 other young men asked me to get off the bus and carry our personal bags, after which they searched us separately and ordered us to empty the bags on the ground and ask us about our profession and destination, after that they took our phones and money and ordered us to pack the bags again and wait.”
He stated that the officer who took over the task of searching him secretly put his phone in his pocket and whispered to him to get on the bus immediately, and that he would try to return the phones and money of others.
He added, “He returned my phone without the money, and the rest of the comrades lost it because the soldier could not convince his colleagues to return the phones.”
The accounts of eyewitnesses coincide that the focal points on which members of the Rapid Support Forces stand on many roads took young men from buses for not showing identity cards, and their fate is not known after that.
Al-Jazeera Net was able to communicate with the father of one of the missing women, but he refused to go into any details about how she was absent so that his speech would not cause harm to her in the event that she was in the hands of the militants, he said.
Rising numbers
With the escalation of fighting and clashes in Khartoum, several families complain of the loss of one of their members, who usually go out to search for water, food, or fetch bread or medicine, amid serious security complications and threats. In separate statements, the armed forces accuse the Rapid Support Forces of using civilians as human shields inside residential neighborhoods.
A report entitled “The Weakest Link” – issued by the “Missing” organization – talked about the loss of 234 people during the period from the ninth of May to the 19th of the same month, including 11 girls, and 6 of the missing persons were reported dead, as the statistics obtained show. Al Jazeera Net.
Speaking to Al-Jazeera Net, the founder of the “Missing” initiative, Yahya Hussein, explains that most of the missing are young men, between the ages of 20 and 35.
She explained that 29 missing persons have returned during the past period to their families, including 4 persons who returned during the past days.
One of the returnees confirmed to Al-Jazeera Net that he was being held by the Rapid Support Forces, after they subjected him to inspection at a checkpoint, and they questioned that he did not carry proof of his identity and accused him of spying for the army, while the young man was trying to search for bread for his family who lived in the suburb of Al-Daim.
The statistics showed the loss of 15 people under the age of 18, and Khartoum recorded the loss of 192 people, compared to 37 in Omdurman and 43 in Khartoum North.
Other people have gone missing in Marawi, where the spark of conflict broke out between the army and Rapid Support, and people have also disappeared in the cities of: Shendi in the Nile River state (north), Madani (center) and Wadi Halfa (north) since April 15. Among the missing are 6 non-Sudanese nationals.
As of May 19, the number of missing persons due to the clashes between the Sudanese army and the Rapid Support Forces has reached 269.
Arrest and enforced disappearance
In turn, a member of the “Missing” initiative, Sarah Hamdan, told Al-Jazeera Net that since the outbreak of the war, the initiative has worked hard to monitor the missing, and has contributed to publishing their information and following up through its pages, noting the return of some of the missing, but the majority are still unaccounted for.
According to a statement issued by the Coordinating Committee of the “Missing” initiative, issued last Friday, the monitoring and follow-up operations revealed that a number of civilians were arrested and forcibly disappeared by the Rapid Support Forces, some of whom were arrested from their homes, others from the roads or from within the neighborhoods.
Sarah suggested that some of these detainees and forcibly disappeared persons were among those who went missing during the past days.
The initiative’s statement confirmed that because of these practices, unfortunate information was received about the death of one of the missing persons, after the army attacked a Rapid Support headquarters, and as a result there were deaths whose number and the fate of the rest of the detainees who were forcibly hidden there are still unknown, and whether there are similar cases. Rapid support for placing detainees in different regions; In clear violation of human rights and laws.
The initiative called on the two parties to abide by international treaties and covenants on human rights, and what was committed to in the Jeddah Declaration for the Protection of Civilians, which confirmed that the safety of civilians is a major priority.
The initiative also called on the Rapid Support Forces to release all civilians detained by them, and to secure their lives and the safety of their return to their families, without restriction or condition.