The African Centre for Justice and Peace Studies (ACJPS) condemns the continued targeting of public servants, especially teachers, in RSF-controlled areas on allegations of collaborating with the SAF-controlled government in Port Sudan. ACJPS also raises serious concerns about the treatment of detainees in custody, particularly given the well-documented use of torture. In this statement, ACJPS details several incidents where education staff and teachers have been specifically targeted.
On September 24, 2025, at approximately 08:00 am, six soldiers armed with automatic rifles from the Rapid Support Forces (RSF), alongside other individuals in plain clothes utilizing a Land Cruiser vehicle, apprehended Mr. Ibrahim Elshekh from his residence in the Aljeer neighborhood. Mr. Elshekh, a teacher serving as the principal of a government school in Nyala city, the capital of South Darfur State and the proclaimed capital of the Tasis Alliance in Sudan, was detained. According to a reliable source, the reason for his arrest pertains to his refusal to operate the school, which the RSF considers a refusal to acknowledge the authority of the Tasis-formed de facto government. Mr. Elshekh remains subject to indefinite detention.
On September 25, 2025, at approximately 10:00 am, three armed soldiers from the Rapid Support Force (RSF) arrested Mr. Alfadil Mohamed, a 54-year-old male teacher, in front of his shop located in the popular market of Nyala. Mr. Alfadil was accused by the RSF of receiving salaries from the Sudanese authorities, operating from the administrative capital of Port Sudan City in the Red Sea State, Eastern Sudan. A reliable source testified to the ACJPS that Mr. Alfadil is detained at Diqris Prison in South Darfur. It is noteworthy that the RSF utilizes Diqris and other detention centers in South Darfur, such as in Nyala and Kas, for individuals arrested from Khartoum, West, and East Darfur, and at least 76 detainees from West Kordofan State.
Other Developments
On August 11, 2025, the National Security Office of Merowe City, the capital of Sudan's Northern State, detained seven female teachers to prevent their participation in a peaceful protest by students at Abdallah Hamad Primary School. The protest was in response to an unexplained power outage in the city, which occurred for unknown reasons. The next day, the school principal, Ms. Aisha Awasd Abdallah, and her deputy, Mr. Mashair Mohamed Ali Al-Hussein, received a directive from the Minister of Education transferring them to other schools, without losing their roles as principal and deputy principal. This incident was regarded as a disciplinary measure and a cautionary signal to other school administrators to prevent the recurrence of student and teacher strikes. Nevertheless, following intervention by the teachers, the education administration rescinded the transfer; however, no formal documentation was provided, contrary to the initial communications.
Mr. Elden Osman, a high school teacher from Alamir in Omdurman known as Umbanda, has been missing since his arrest and incommunicado detention by RSF on November 23, 2024, in Umbanda, Khartoum State. The withdrawal of RSF from Khartoum raises concerns about his safety.
Background
The number of teachers in South Darfur and other RSF-controlled areas who have refused to return to school since the start of the academic year last September 2024 remains significant. RSF forces have increasingly harassed teachers by arresting their representatives, detaining several teachers, educators, and money transfer operators in Nyala and other areas on similar allegations of collaborating with the army-controlled government in Port Sudan. Efforts are underway to track the bank accounts of teachers who receive salaries from the authorities in Port Sudan.