In July 2025, soldiers from the paramilitary Rapid Support Forces (RSF) seized journalist El-Rashid Mohamed Haroun Garad at the Ardeiba market in the city of El-Geneina, West Darfur and took him to a detention facility, two local journalists told CPJ, on condition of anonymity, citing fear of reprisal. They added that the RSF inspected Haroun’s phone and laptop and found videos documenting alleged war crimes and interviews with victims.
The online outlet Darfur 24 reported that Garad was the former director of local radio station Darfur 90.3, and a correspondent for several regional TV channels.
In August, the RSF transferred Garad to Dagres Prison, southwest of Nyala in South Darfur, where he was barred from receiving family visits.
As of September 2025, Garad remained in Dagres Prison and no charges had been disclosed, according to the local journalists.
In September, journalist Issam Eddin Mohamed Haroun Garad, El-Rashid’s brother and director of the North Darfur State Radio and Television Corporation, was also seized by the RSF in El-Fasher.
As of mid-November, the whereabouts of both brothers remain unknown, according to the local journalists.
CPJ’s September 2025 email to the RSF seeking comment did not receive a response.
Since the war between the Sudanese Armed Forces and the RSF broke out in April 2023, more than a dozen journalists and media workers have been killed in Sudan; many others have been detained, displaced, or disappeared; and scores of outlets have been shuttered.