Press Watchdogs, Legal Group Demand RSF Release Female Journalists and Activists

International media watchdogs and a Sudanese legal aid group on Monday called on the Rapid Support Forces (RSF) to immediately release several female journalists and activists detained in South Darfur, amid growing reports of arbitrary arrests and enforced disappearances. The Committee to Protect Journalists (CPJ) stated that RSF personnel arrested Nyala State Radio reporters Mawaheb Ibrahim and Zahraa Mohamed Al-Hassan, along with presenter Ishraqah Abdulrahman, on February 28. The journalists were seized in Nyala, the capital of South Darfur, after attending a workshop for female media professionals. … According to local sources cited by CPJ, the women are being held at Korea prison in Nyala without formal charges or legal representation. The emergency legal group “Emergency Lawyers” corroborated the reports, identifying additional detainees, including Dr Manahel Mustafa al-Sanousi and Izdehar Abdel Moneim Hamed. The group warned that the lack of a functioning judicial system in RSF-controlled areas leaves these women at high risk of torture and sexual violence. (Sudan Tribune)