Published On 28/10/2025
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Last update: 07:30 (Mecca time)
Local and international press organizations denounced the arrest of independent Sudanese journalist Muammar Ibrahim by the Rapid Support Forces last Sunday after they took control of the city of El Fasher, the capital of North Darfur State in western Sudan, in light of growing concerns about his fate and safety.
A video clip showed Ibrahim surrounded by Rapid Support fighters as he introduced himself and confirmed that he was arrested while leaving the city, which had been under a stifling siege and violent bombardment since May 2024. He indicated that he worked as a journalist cooperating with Al Jazeera Mubasher during the recent period.
Journalists, as civilians under international humanitarian law, must be protected from parties to the conflict and are prohibited from being detained, treated harshly, or assaulted.
We call @ICRC To work to ensure the safety of fellow journalist Muammar Ibrahim @MUAMMAR_SUD Who appeared detained and treated harshly by members of the Rapid Support, according to the clip below. pic.twitter.com/fw1WsD4j1S
— Mojahed Taha (@mojahedashw2k) October 26, 2025
The General Union of Sudanese Journalists called on international and regional organizations, federations, and journalistic and human rights organizations to strive for the release of fellow journalist Muammar and lift the injustice against him, and held Rapid Support fully responsible for his life and safety.
The Union considered the kidnapping of Ibrahim a crime committed by the Rapid Support as part of a series of systematic violations against journalists, especially in the Darfur region.
The number of journalists killed and kidnapped by the Rapid Support Forces without knowing their fate or conditions reached more than 8 journalists in the cities of El Fasher, Nyala, and El Geneina since the start of the operation to siege and attack the regional capital and other cities, according to the Union.
The Sudanese Federation pointed out that journalists Muhammad Haroun Jarad, Mustafa Abu Quta, Essam Harun Jarad, and Youssef Al-Bashir Abdel Malik were detained in Rapid Support prisons, demanding their immediate release.
For its part, the International Committee to Protect Journalists expressed its concern about the arrest of Muammar Ibrahim and called for his immediate and unconditional release.
The committee’s regional director, Sarah Al-Qudah, said that the illegal kidnapping of journalist Muammar reveals the Rapid Support militia’s blatant disregard for press freedom and human rights, adding that it confirms the severe risks that journalists still face in El Fasher.
The Sudanese Journalists Syndicate expressed in a statement its deep concern about the kidnapping of the journalist, the serious deterioration of the situation in the city of El Fasher, the accompanying interruption of satellite communication networks – which represent the only networks operating in North Darfur – and the resulting complete media darkness in the city.
Ibrahim has covered the war in Darfur for the past two years, and is among the few remaining journalists documenting developments in El Fasher despite ongoing air strikes, communications blackouts and a severe humanitarian crisis.
At the beginning of this month, the Committee to Protect Journalists documented arrests, rape, and torture that journalists faced for carrying out their work in the city of El Fasher.
In interviews with the committee, 7 journalists described the extent of widespread deprivation of food and aid, amid continued bombing, while some of them spoke of their exposure to sexual violence and arbitrary arrest by Rapid Support Forces fighters because of their press reports.