UAE detains prominent Sudanese civil society spokesperson

The UAE has detained a prominent Sudanese civil society activist, whose family say he is being targeted because of his public criticism of the Rapid Support Forces (RSF).

Nader Maryoud, spokesperson for the pro-democracy Resistance Committees movement in the Salha neighbourhood of the Sudanese city of Omdurman, was detained by Emirati police two weeks ago.

His brother Nizar Maryoud said Nader Maryoud, “an engineer, was arbitrarily arrested in the UAE more than two weeks ago without explanation for the reasons for his arrest”.

The Salha Resistance Committee condemned the arrest, noting that it came shortly after the group issued a statement criticising the RSF, a paramilitary force that has been at war with the Sudanese military since April 2023.

Though the army and RSF overthrew Sudan's transitional civilian government in 2021 and subsequently shared power, plans to fold the paramilitary group into the regular military sparked a war that has killed tens of thousands of people and displaced 13 million others.

Throughout the conflict, the RSF has targeted civilians with killings, lootings and sexual abuse. The United States and several human rights groups have accused it of committing genocide in the western Darfur region. 

Its chief backer is the UAE, with mounting evidence showing advanced weaponry is being transferred to the RSF by the Emiratis.

After the war broke out, the RSF controlled al-Salha until the military forced the paramilitaries out in May.

Residents in the neighbourhood described to Middle East Eye a reign of terror during RSF rule, including the massacring of at least 31 members of the Jame'at tribe.

There has been increasing scrutiny of the UAE's backing for the RSF, particularly in the wake of the group's capture of the city of el-Fasher and reports of mass killings and atrocities in the aftermath.

Aid workers and survivors have reported massacres, summary executions and sexual violence, with satellite images appearing to show huge blood splatters on the ground and piles of bodies.

Testimony from witnesses speaking to MEE said men were separated from women and children and executed, and boys as young as two were killed, sometimes in front of their families. Hostages were held to ransom, forced to contact anyone they knew to try and transfer exorbitant fees to RSF fighters on mobile banking apps. 

Women were raped, violently searched and sexually assaulted. Sometimes they were taken hostage in lieu of ransom.

The reports have prompted the opening of an independent investigation by the UN Human Rights Council.

UAE scrutiny

MEE has reported that the United Arab Emirates is supplying the RSF with weapons through a complex network of supply lines and alliances stretching across Libya, Chad, Uganda and Somalia.

UK-produced weaponry sold to the UAE has been found in Sudan being used by the RSF, prompting Amnesty International to call for the UK to stop selling weaponry to the Gulf state.

The organisation also said Chinese weaponry had been re-exported by the UAE to the RSF, including Chinese GB50A guided bombs and 155mm AH-4 howitzers.

Despite mounting evidence, the UAE denies it supplies the RSF, but the reports from el-Fasher and other areas of Sudan have put pressure on the international community and the UAE's key allies to stop the flow of weaponry into Sudan.

‘Worryingly’ few civilians from Sudan's el-Fasher making it to Chad, says aid chief

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Marco Rubio, US secretary of state, said last week Washington knows which country is giving the paramilitaries money and weapons, “and we’re going to talk to them about it and make them understand that this is going to reflect poorly on them and poorly on the world if we can’t stop this”.

“I don’t want to get into calling anybody out at a press conference because what we want is a good outcome. This needs to stop,” he added.

Arab and western officials told MEE last week that Saudi Arabia's Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman was expected to lobby US President Donald Trump over the UAE's backing of the RSF.

The crown prince reportedly spoke with Sudanese Armed Forces (SAF) commander Abdel Fattah al-Burhan who said there was no way the war in Sudan would end without US pressure on the UAE.

A source told MEE that Mohammed bin Salman promised Burhan he would raise the issue with Trump.

Dozens of activists are currently being held in prisons in the UAE.

Among them is Mohamed Farouk Salman, a former leader in Sudan's pro-democracy Forces of Freedom and Change, who has been detained since January under unknown circumstances.

Nizar Maryoud called on the UAE to “immediately and unconditionally” release his brother from prison and to allow access to his lawyer.

He also warned them against mistreating him while detained.