Proof of torture found as a detention center and falls of mass discovered outside Khartoum | Global development

More than 500 people may have been tortured or hungry to death, then buried in a serious secret mass north of Khartoum, according to evidence seen by the Guardian.

A visit to a base belonging to the paramilitary forces of rapid support (RSF) shortly after its recovery by the Sudanese army I found a previously unknown detention center, with handcuffs hanging from doors, apparent punishment rooms and blood stains on the floor. The accounts of persons detained at the detention center describe to be tortured several times by their captors.

Nearby was a large burial place with at least 550 unmarked tombs, many of which are freshly dug and a number apparently containing several bodies.

Satellite map and image showing where the graves were found

The site is the largest makeshift burial field found in Sudan during his civil war and, if confirmed, would make this one of the worst war crimes of the brutal conflict of Sudan.

People have saved from the southern perimeter detention center of the base, about 40 miles (70 km) north of the capital, Khartoum said that many had died inside and would be buried nearby.

Examination of survivors by doctors found a myriad of signs of torture and concluded that they were hungry.

The RSF took over the base, near the village of Garri, such as a command and training center after the fighting began with the Sudanese army almost two years ago. Satellite images and military sources confirm that no fall was present at the site before the start of the war on April 15, 2023.

The conflict has caused one of the worst famines in the world for decades, killed tens of thousands of people and forced more than 14 million people to leave their homes.

Human Rights Watch (HRW), who investigated Sudan abuses during the war, said that the site of the detention center could constitute “one of the largest crime scenes of atrocity discovered in Sudan since the start of the war”, and called for access to the investigators of the United Nations war crime.

Dr. Hosham Al-Shekh, who examined 135 men found there after the Sudanese Armed Forces (SAF) resumed the site at the end of January, said clinical evidence of chronic torture and malnutrition were widespread.

Shekh told the Guardian that men – who were all civilians – were so traumatized when they were discovered that many could not speak.

“When we arrived, they couldn’t even get out. We had to make them. They had been seriously beaten, tortured, “he said. “Some of them were seriously injured by torture.

“Some of them had been slaughtered in their leg with a bullet. They were beaten with sticks that left marks: cleaning the straight scars to be beaten. All were tortured. »»

A man was so frequently beaten by RSF guards that he adopted a prolonged fetal position to protect himself.

“They beat me in the morning and in the evening, they discriminated against me. I used to sit with my nestled knees that now I can’t straighten my legs to walk, “he said in a statement to Sudanese military medical staff.

The results raise questions about the credibility of the RSF, the coming days after having signed a political charter in Kenya to establish a Sudanese government parallel in the areas it controls.

The satellite images of the base confirm that the tombs only appeared after the start of the war and after the RSF occupied the site. An image taken for weeks after the start of the war shows no trace of funeral mounds next to a single road on the basis.

Another image of the same place, captured a year later on May 25, 2024, reveals a large number of mounds extending over a distance of about 200 meters.

Satellite view of the desert area in 2023 and 2024. Photography: Planet Labs

Capt Jalal Abaker, from the Sudanese army, said that he had served on the basis of Garri until the war started in 2023 and said there was no site then. “I was there until Ramadan that year (March 22 to April 20, 2023),” he said. “There was no cemetery.”

The SGT Mohammed Amin, which is now stationed in Garri, said: “All the bodies buried there are dead on the basis.”

Shekh added that survivors were talking about other captives that died. “Many of them told me that many things had died inside. Many, they said, died because of torture. »»

A Sudanese army senior army, the Bashir Tamil pass, said prisoners had been found with their hands and feet attached. “They were in very poor condition with marks on their bodies and injuries,” he added.

Jean-Baptiste Gallopin, during the crisis, conflict and weapon division of HRW, said that it was “vital” that the base control authorities treated it as a potential war crime site and made “immediate efforts to guarantee, collect and protect evidence that can be essential for efforts of responsibility”.

Until now, the site seems to be fully preserved without public access with the Sudanese army protecting the location to protect evidence. Grave mass experts hope that independent analysts will be allowed to access the site.

Many most notorious atrocities in the conflict have occurred in the western region of Darfur, the Arab RSF militias and allies accused of ethnic cleaning. Earlier this year, the United States accused the genocide paramilitary group.

The International Criminal Court is investigating abuse in Darfur. Evidence of crimes against humanity discovered by the Guardian are transmitted to the CPI prosecutor.

The Sudanese army is also accused of having committed serious atrocities against civilians, with its leaders sanctioned by the United States.

Military sources believe that the RSF did not expect the detention center and the funeral ground near Garri to be found. Until recently, the group occupied so much territory in the region that it could have thought that the site was sure of the attack.

The RSF was contacted for comments. When accused of abuse in the past, the group responded by transmitting a code of conduct prohibiting the abuse of the detainees and saying that it had a committee to investigate the abuses and continue those responsible.