Port Sudan: Rhino – Resistance committees in Port Sudan said on Saturday that volunteer Birir al-Tom has been in detention since August 24, after being arrested by the security cell, noting that he was beaten and tortured before being recently transferred to the public prison without being brought before a court.

On August 25, the committee stated that “the security authorities arrested the decent man Birir al-Tom, who was known to the emergency rooms and popular initiatives in the Red Sea state and its localities and rural areas, and since the beginning of the war, he was the first to serve the displaced,” holding the authorities fully responsible for his safety and demanding his immediate release.

The Sudanese army intelligence and security cell are facing accusations of carrying out systematic arrests of activists in the resistance committees and volunteers in emergency rooms on charges of collaborating with the Rapid Support Forces and communicating against the state.

In their statement, the resistance committees in Port Sudan expressed their rejection of any form of violence or violations against volunteers in humanitarian work, calling for respect for humanitarian principles and international laws that guarantee the protection of volunteers. They also strongly condemned what they called the use of the law as a tool to target those who provide humanitarian services to the needy.

The resistance statement added: “We hold the official authorities fully responsible for any harm caused to the volunteer ‘Breeer al-Tom’, and we demand an immediate end to the gross violations of human rights. It also affirmed that these violations “will not deter the committees from their principle of rejecting war,” stressing that it will continue to work with the resistance committees and the forces that signed the revolutionary charter to establish the authority of the people.

On August 17, the emergency lawyer issued a statement accusing the security cell in Khartoum of committing violations, which he said included killings, arrests, and torture. The statement condemned this cell, which was established by an emergency order issued by the governor of Khartoum in May 2024 – had become a tool of repression and intimidation for the benefit of the army, noting that it carried out systematic arrests and torture within its offices and transferred some detainees to large detention centers such as Jabal Sirkab, north of Omdurman.