How a doctor and a musician from Khartoum were swept into the horrors of Sudan’s paramilitary crackdown
In the heart of Khartoum North, the neighborhood of Shambat al-Aradi once pulsed with the sounds of music, laughter, and community gatherings. Today, it echoes with silence, grief, and the trauma of a war that has torn lives apart.
For Khalid al-Sadiq, a 43-year-old family doctor, and his childhood friend, a 40-year-old musician, the civil war that erupted in April 2023 brought unimaginable suffering. As the Rapid Support Forces (RSF) tightened their grip on Khartoum, the friends were separately abducted, tortured, and held in RSF-run detention centers—caught in a violent dragnet targeting anyone suspected of ties to the state or former regime.
Tortured in the Shadows
Al-Sadiq’s ordeal began in August 2023, when RSF forces raided Shambat, arresting scores of men with no explanation. He was crammed with seven others into a looted home’s bathroom—barely enough space to move. Food was meager, ventilation nonexistent, and torture routine.
“They crushed my fingers with pliers,” he recalled. “They shot at the ground beside me—shrapnel hit my stomach. I thought I’d die.”
The RSF demanded a ransom of 3 million Sudanese pounds (about $1,000) from each detainee. Some men gave up everything they had to secure release. Al-Sadiq wasn’t so lucky—he was relocated to a smaller, filthier cell beneath a staircase. Insects swarmed the unventilated space, where detainees had to take turns lying down.
Music Silenced by War
Meanwhile, Al-Sadiq’s friend, the musician, was also arrested. His family’s distant connection to former president Omar al-Bashir made him a target, despite his history of protesting against Bashir’s rule. He was first taken to the Paratrooper Military Camp, now controlled by RSF fighters, and subjected to brutal physical abuse.
“They flogged us with the sout al-anag—a whip made from hippo skin. We were tied up, laid facedown in the yard, and beaten repeatedly,” he said.
His home was looted. His younger brother was shot in the leg during an RSF raid. Despite relocating his family for safety, he was arrested at least five more times—victim to a network of informants, fear, and retribution.
“Most arrests happened because someone tipped them off—sometimes for personal revenge, sometimes under torture,” said Al-Sadiq. “RSF commanders even claimed they had lists of people linked to the old regime in every area.”
A Shared Wound
Both men survived—but emerged forever changed. Their bond, once forged through music and community, is now sealed by trauma and survival. Their stories are just two among thousands, buried beneath the chaos of a war still raging in Sudan.