KT
The death of a Sudanese man who was snatched while sitting at a coffee shop has sparked controversy around the scope of a paramilitary force in Sudan whose members once formed the backbone of a militia that rights groups say committed war crimes in Darfur.
The Rapid Support Forces, according to its official spokesman, Brigadier General Jamal Jumaa, revealed that the head of the RSF Intelligence Department and the officers concerned have been referred to investigation and reservation of all individuals who participated in the arrest of the deceased until the completion of the investigation procedures in the case in accordance with the law and justice.
Bahaa el-Din Nouri, 45, was taken on Dec. 16 in the Kalakla neighborhood, south of the capital, Khartoum, by men in plain clothes riding a vehicle without license plates, his family has said.
Five days later, his body appeared at a hospital morgue in the city of Omdurman, just outside Kalakla. The family refused to take the body for immediate burial after seeing signs of apparent beating and torture, according to Nouri’s brother, Yasser.
Culture and Information Minister Faisal Mohammed Saleh, said the family met with the general prosecutor on Thursday and asked for an autopsy to reveal the cause of death.
Saleh, who is also the government spokesman, said an initial investigation showed that Nouri died while being interrogated by the Rapid Support Forces, or RSF.
A spokesman for the RSF did not respond to phone calls and text messages seeking comment.
The force is largely comprised of former Janjaweed militiamen who executed a brutal crackdown in Sudan’s Darfur region over the past two decades. Rights groups have accused the Janjaweed of committing war crimes, including raping and killing civilians and burning down villages during counterinsurgency raids in Darfur and other areas of western Sudan during the conflict.
The RSF is led by powerful Sudanese Gen. Mohammed Hamdan Dagalo, who is also the deputy head of the ruling sovereign council. Dagalo was appointed by former longtime leader Omar al-Bashir when he was in power to lead the RSF.
