ISTANBUL

More than 19,000 people are held by the paramilitary Rapid Support Forces (RSF) in South Darfur in western Sudan, local medics said Wednesday.

The Sudan Doctors Network said on US social media company X that over 19,000 people are imprisoned in Dagris and Kober prisons, the largest detention centers in South Darfur state.

According to the medical group, some 5,434 detainees are from civilian professions, including 73 medical staff and a number of politicians and media workers.

The network reported a rising number of deaths among the detainees due to worsening detention conditions, including acute shortages of medicine, drinking water, and food, overcrowded cells, poor sanitation, lack of medical isolation, and the spread of infectious diseases among prisoners.

“More than four deaths are recorded weekly due to medical neglect, alongside the absence of qualified staff and the lack of first aid or the ability to transport critical cases to hospitals,” it added.

The group called on the UN and other international organizations to exert pressure on the RSF to release civilian detainees and protect detainees in accordance with humanitarian and legal standards.

The conflict between the Sudanese army and the RSF, which began in April 2023, has since killed thousands of people and displaced millions of others.

Of Sudan’s 18 states, the RSF controls all five states of the Darfur region in the west, except for some northern parts of North Darfur that remain under army control. The army, in turn, holds most areas of the remaining 13 states in the south, north, east, and center, including the capital, Khartoum.