Alwaleed Abdeen

Their life

Alwaleed Abdeen (1989–2025) was a Sudanese entrepreneur, humanitarian, and visionary leader whose life was cut short by the brutality of Sudan's civil war. Born and raised in Khartoum, Abdeen became a driving force in Sudan's innovation ecosystem, co-founding 249 Startups and organizing TEDxKhartoum to empower young entrepreneurs. His academic pursuits took him to Lancaster University on a prestigious fellowship, but he returned to Sudan determined to rebuild his nation. When war erupted in 2023, Abdeen refused to abandon his elderly parents in their Arkaweet home, even as the Rapid Support Forces (RSF) overran the neighborhood.

Alwaleed Abdeen (1989–2025) was a Sudanese entrepreneur, humanitarian, and visionary leader whose life was cut short by the brutality of Sudan's civil war. Born and raised in Khartoum, Abdeen became a driving force in Sudan's innovation ecosystem, co-founding 249 Startups and organizing TEDxKhartoum to empower young entrepreneurs. His academic pursuits took him to Lancaster University on a prestigious fellowship, but he returned to Sudan determined to rebuild his nation. When war erupted in 2023, Abdeen refused to abandon his elderly parents in their Arkaweet home, even as the Rapid Support Forces (RSF) overran the neighborhood. This decision proved fatal - in October 2024, he was abducted and subjected to six months of unimaginable cruelty in an RSF detention camp. The haunting video of his emaciated body during rescue in March 2025 shocked the world, showing the systematic starvation and torture inflicted by his captors. Though freed by Sudanese army forces, Abdeen succumbed to his injuries days later, becoming one of an estimated 50,000 victims of RSF atrocities. Remembered by colleagues as "the conscience of Sudanese entrepreneurship," his legacy lives on through the countless young innovators he mentored and the international outcry over his death that continues to pressure for accountability in Sudan's forgotten war.

How they died

systematic torture, starvation, and medical neglect

Alwaleed Abdeen, the 35-year-old Sudanese entrepreneur and humanitarian, died as a direct result of systematic torture, starvation, and medical neglect inflicted during his six-month detention by Sudan’s Rapid Support Forces (RSF).

Additional context

Brutality of Sudan's civil war

A plea from the family

The family of Alwaleed Abdeen has emerged as a powerful voice demanding justice for his brutal death at the hands of Sudan's Rapid Support Forces (RSF). His elderly father, Siddig Abdeen, who survived the war's horrors only to bury his son, has become an unlikely activist, presenting harrowing video evidence of Alwaleed's emaciated final days to international bodies. "They didn't just kill my son - they tried to erase everything he stood for," Siddig declared during a somber press conference in Cairo, where he now lives in exile. The family's #RememberAlwaleed campaign has galvanized Sudan's diaspora, transforming his personal tragedy into a rallying cry against RSF atrocities. Alwaleed's sisters risk their safety to smuggle documentation of his torture to human rights organizations, while his former colleagues secretly maintain his abandoned innovation hubs as acts of quiet resistance. Their pleas extend beyond personal grief - they demand the exhumation of mass graves near Jebel Awliya, where hundreds may lie buried, and insist on an independent autopsy despite threats from RSF sympathizers.

Why we remember them

This record exists so that Alwaleed Abdeen, and all who are named in this archive, are never reduced to a number.

References & sources