Secret Detention Sites Run by Hemeidti Inside Residential Neighborhoods in Nyala
Three independent sources in Nyala, South Darfur State, have disclosed that the Rapid Support Forces (RSF) militia, owned by the Dagalo family, have established secret detention sites inside several residential neighborhoods of the city. These sites are reportedly supervised by high-ranking RSF officers and are used to detain civilians and former military personnel outside any legal framework.
An eyewitness, who requested anonymity, told Darfur24 that one of his relatives got into a dispute with RSF members inside the he traffic police yard north of the city. One of the militiamen accused him of belonging to a regular security agency and cooperating with the Sudanese Army, leading to his immediate arrest. He added that the detainee’s family searched for him for six days before a senior RSF officer informed them that he was being held inside a house in Al-Riyadh neighborhood, north of Nyala.
According to the witness, several detainees are being held inside houses located in the neighborhoods of Al-Tadamon, Al-Thawra, Al-Riyadh, Al-Mustaqbal, and Al-Matar. Their guards are RSF members wearing civilian clothes and carrying light weapons. He noted that families of some detainees are sometimes approached with offers to “settle” the charges in exchange for payment.
In a related incident, a relative of another detainee in Al-Tadamon stated that an RSF intelligence officer named Khidr arrested his sister’s husband from his home and transferred him to a detention site in a house in Al-Mustaqbal neighborhood. He explained that the detainee is a first lieutenant in the police, and that his request to join the RSF-aligned Federal Police had been rejected shortly before his arrest. The family searched all known detention centers without success, until an RSF officer disclosed his location — yet he remains in custody.
A former RSF fighter told Darfur24 that officers within the force established these detention sites inside residential homes, where they hold anyone who obstructs them or refuses their orders, whether civilians or former military personnel, under accusations such as “belonging to the army” or “cooperating with the Joint Forces.” He added that dozens of houses are used for detention, torture, and interrogation before detainees are transferred either to the Dagreis detention facility west of Nyala or to premises belonging to the General Intelligence Service or the Security Police east of the city.
The source confirmed that the neighborhoods of Al-Tadamon, Al-Riyadh, Al-Mustaqbal, Al-Matar, and Al-Thawra are the most heavily used for these secret detention sites, with each house holding between four and ten detainees. He stressed that RSF leadership, along with influential and mid-ranking officers, are fully aware of these practices, according to Darfur24.
Dagaris detention center, located 20 kilometers southwest of Nyala, is considered one of the worst holding sites in areas controlled by the RSF in Darfur. According to accounts from former detainees, thousands of civilians and military personnel are held there under harsh and inhumane conditions.