Sudanese paramilitary Rapid Support Forces (RSF) and allied militias, which captured the key city of El Fasher in Darfur in late October, are systematically holding captive residents for ransom. According to witnesses and humanitarian workers, those whose families cannot pay thousands of dollars are killed or severely beaten. This is stated in a Reuters article, writes UNN.
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Arrests are taking place in and around the city, as well as in a cluster of villages within an 80 km radius of El Fasher – the last significant stronghold of RSF resistance in western Darfur before its fall. This exposes the fate of tens of thousands of people who are considered missing amid the 2.5-year war.
Reuters interviewed 33 former prisoners who reported paying ransoms ranging from 5 to 60 million Sudanese pounds (equivalent to $1,400 – $17,000) – huge sums for the impoverished region.
They give you three or four days, and if you don't transfer the money, they kill you
Ismail said he and his nephew were captured by the RSF, and they had to raise 10 million pounds each to be released. According to him, nine other men were killed before their eyes. Former prisoners report that many who could not pay were shot individually or executed in groups.