Introduction
The Sudanese revolution, which began in December 2018, toppling dictator Omar al-Bashir and his government, sparked new hope for the restoration of democratic and civic freedoms in the country. Following this, a Transitional Military Council was formed, but tensions emerged between the military and opposition movements. During October 2019, the Juba Agreement for Peace in Sudan was signed by the Transitional Government, leading to important commitments, including on gender equality and women’s empowerment, resource-sharing, security arrangements and transitional justice.
However, ongoing tensions between military and civilian factions in the government resulted in the 25th October 2021 coup by the military leadership, which sparked mass protests which were met with lethal and brutal force. Security forces arrested 63 government officials, including Prime Minister Abdalla Hamdok, six ministers and several members of the country’s civilian leadership, such as members of the Transitional Government and Transitional Sovereign Council, who were placed under house arrest or taken to unknown locations. A state of emergency was declared by Rapid Support Forces (RSF) General Abdel Fattah al-Burhan, with the dissolution of the Sovereign Council and Transitional Government.
A political agreement was signed on 21st November 2021, with Abdalla Hamdok reinstated as prime minister and the transition to civilian rule restored, with an agreement for the release of political prisoners. Less than two months later, on 2nd January 2022, Hamdok announced his resignation as prime minister due to political deadlock between the civilian and military factions, sparking further political uncertainty. In December 2022, a deal was signed between the military and some civilian groups.
In April 2023, an outbreak of intense fighting between the Rapid support Forces (RSF) - a paramilitary group led by General Mohamed Hamdan Dagalo, commonly known as Hemedti and the Sudanese Armed Forces (SAF) - the military forces of the Republic of Sudan, rapidly spread across the country. Since then, thousands of civilians have been killed, with many more subjected to rape and other forms of sexual violence, forced displacement, starvation, looting and the destruction of homes, health facilities, markets and other civilian infrastructure. An unknown number of Sudanese remain missing, while humanitarian workers and human rights defenders (HRDs) are being threatened and attacked. Various non-state armed groups and militias have likewise been involved in the conflict and wider violence, at times allied to either the RSF or SAF.
According to Human Rights Watch, both the SAF and RSF have committed war crimes and other serious violations of international humanitarian law. In addition, the RSF has committed crimes against humanity, including in an ethnic cleansing campaign in West Darfur in 2023, and widespread acts of sexual violence in areas of Khartoum, the capital, since 2023. In January 2025, the United States formally declared that Sudan’s Rapid Support Forces had committed genocide during the conflict. While the Sudanese Women's Rights Action welcomed the declaration by the US, it urged the U.S. government to “impose an arms embargo over Sudan and target the countries providing weapons and money fueling this war.”
As the conflict entered its third year, the United Nations declared it to be one of the “most devastating humanitarian and displacement crises in the world.” Tens of thousands are reportedly dead, around 12.7 million people have been forcibly displaced, almost four million people have fled to neighbouring countries, and some 30.4 million people – over two-thirds of the total population –need assistance. Women and girls have been disproportionately impacted by the conflict. In less than two years, the number of people at risk of gender-based violence has more than tripled, with an estimated 12.1 million people at risk. Women and girls also face increased lack of access to healthcare, economic and food insecurity.
Despite multiple ceasefire declarations since the conflict began on 15th April 2023, fighting has continued and intensified, with civilians paying the highest price. The number of refugees has surpassed three million, while internal displacement affects more than nine million people. Malnutrition is widespread. On the economic front, the conflict has devastated more than three-quarters of Sudan’s industrial infrastructure; disrupted nearly two-thirds of agricultural production, and severely damaged water and electricity infrastructure.
At the same time, the war has weakened civil activity across all areas, whether controlled by the army or the RSF. Humanitarian relief remained key for civil society organizations, with ongoing challenges. As at April 2025, OCHA Access report shows, humanitarian organizations continue to face operational challenges; compounded by administrative obstacles, including protracted delays in issuing visas and travel permits, as well as inconsistent approval procedures.
Ahead of the UN Human Rights Council’s 60th session (8 September-8 October 2025) civil society organisations called for the extension for the Independent International Fact-Finding Mission (FFM) for the Sudan that has been monitoring on the human rights situation in the country. In June 2025, a report by the FFM indicated that “The war, which erupted in April 2023 between the Sudanese Armed Forces (SAF) and the Rapid Support Forces (RSF), has killed tens of thousands of civilians so far, displacing over 13 million Sudanese and subjecting many more to sexual violence, looting and the destruction of homes, health facilities, markets and other infrastructure and continued to document a sharp rise in sexual and gender-based violence, with women and girls subjected to rape, gang rape, abduction, sexual slavery, and forced marriage, mostly in RSF-controlled displacement camps.
Association
ARREST AND DETENTION OF ACTIVISTS
A March 2024 report by the Office of the High Commissioner of Human Rights (OHCHR) on the human rights situation in Sudan noted that civic space has declined since the outbreak of the conflict and that there is a “pattern of arbitrary detention of civil society actors by both parties to the conflict.” Between April 2023 and December 2023, the General Intelligence Service and Military Intelligence arrested at least 109 members of resistance committees and persons working in emergency rooms, including HRDS and other political and civil society actors across the country. Most of those arrested were released shortly thereafter. However, the whereabouts of some individuals remain unknown and may amount to enforced disappearance.
Additionally, the report noted that dozens of members of civil society and activists were detained by both the RSF and RAF on the allegation of supporting the opposing party in North and West Kordofan States. “Many of those detained reported intimidation and threats, making it risky for them to monitor and report allegations of human rights violations and abuses.” HRDS, including women human rights defenders (WRHDS), have been subjected to threats, including death threats and smear campaigns, allegedly by supporters of the SAF and the former regime.
Between 16th December 2023 and 14th November 2024, the OHCHR noted that it received information about persons who had been arbitrarily arrested, held incommunicado from a few days to months and tortured, with the “use of water hoses, sticks, slapping, kicking and, in some cases, burning with melted plastics.” In one example, on 3rd February 2024, an activist, who had been blindfolded and bound was taken by the RSF to a detention centre where he was severely beaten with a gun butt and hoses to confess that he was a member of the SAF. He was later released, only to be rearrested on 12th July and held incommunicado by the Special Operation Forces, where he was tortured to extract a confession that he was a member of the opposing forces. The report further documents that in May 2024, at least two political activists, including a woman, were arrested as they were preparing to travel to a conference by the Military Intelligence in the Blue Nile region and Gedaref state. While one was released shortly after the arrest, the other was detained for over three months in a military detention centre.
Additionally, OHCHR also raised serious concerns about the prosecution of at least 89 anti-war opinion holders and political dissenters, including the Taqaddum leadership (a coalition of political parties, civil society, and professional groups calling for an end to the ongoing war), many of whom are abroad. In April 2024, acting Attorney General and the Office of the Public Prosecutor filed criminal charges against the former civilian Prime Minister Abdalla Hamdok for “inciting war against the state,” undermining constitutional order, and crimes against humanity, some of which carry the death penalty.
WOMEN HUMAN RIGHTS DEFENDERS FACE SIGNIFICANT CHALLENGES
On 14th February 2024, eight human right rights organisations, including the International Federation for Human Rights (FIDH) raised concerns over the closing of civic space, including the “attacks on freedom of expression, rising militarisation and continuous disruption and shutdown of communication that threatens the work and safety of Women Human Rights Defenders (WHRDs) and women’s rights groups in Sudan.” The ability of WHRDs to document violations on the ground has been hampered by the lack of internet access due to several complete communication shutdowns (see more under expression). The interruption has also hampered women's groups’ access to the mobile banking apps that facilitate money transfers to operate or secure protection for WHRDs at risk.
The Youth Citizens Observers network, a group founded in 2021 which documents human rights abuses, reported that it has faced harassment and threats of detention from security forces as they attempt to move across different locations to document violations. A member of the Missing Initiative, a local group with a platform that allows people to post information about missing people, also reported facing threats.
In mid-December, following an attack on Wad Madani, the capital of central Al Jazeerah state, several women's rights groups and WHRDs were forcibly displaced for a second time and faced challenges in searching for safe locations across states and neighbouring countries. As a result of the attack and subsequent displacement, these groups have lost important resources collected since April 2023. According to the statement, the SAF launched an intensified attack on HRDS, humanitarian workers and volunteers, journalists and peaceful activists, while aid groups and first responders continue to face rising restrictions on movements and supplies. It noted that the RSF has continued to arrest civilians, loot public and private properties and perpetrate systemic sexual violence across areas under their control. WHRDs and women's rights groups struggle to operate in the areas controlled by the RSF, where they face a growing risk of sexual violence.
In May 2023, a joint statement to the UN Human Rights Council (UNHRC) by several women human rights groups, including Sudanese Women Rights Action (SUWRA) and WHRD MENA coalition, outlined the challenges faced by WHRDs in Sudan since April 2023. It cites several concerning cases, including a case where three female healthcare professionals received alarming threats, including against their families. The threats come following a defamation campaign against the WHRDs, after they called for an end to the conflict, orchestrated by members of the former regime and some supporters in the military. At least four women healthcare professionals received direct threats on their phones and social media. Other WHRDs, including lawyers, journalists and activists, both inside and outside Sudan, have reported similar threats. WHRDs in Darfur and Khartoum have received information about assassination lists as part of former regime members’ retaliation plans after they escaped from prison on 25th April 2023.
In a statement on 14th April 2025, International Service for Human Rights (ISHR), SUWRA, and WHRDMENA Coalition highlighted that at least 25 women are imprisoned within SAF-controlled areas on accusations of ‘collaboration with the RSF’, with some receiving execution sentences. Their lawyers and families have also been threatened. They have been charged under Articles 50 and 51 of the Sudanese Criminal Law, referring to crimes of ‘undermining the State and treason.’ Many civilians were detained at their homes, at travel checkpoints, or randomly in public places. On some occasions, other civilians reported individuals to authorities without substantial proof, leading to arrests based on rumours and, without any official investigations.
KILLING OF HRDS
Since April 2023, several human rights defenders have been killed in Darfur due to their human rights work.
On 28th May 2023, lawyer Mohammed Ahmed Kudia was killed, his property looted and burned down by members of the RSF paramilitary group. On 30th May 2023, Khamis Arabab, a lawyer and member of the Darfur Bar Association, was killed when his house in El Geneina was attacked by members of the RSF. Ahmed Kudia defended victims of attacks on camps for internally displaced persons (IDPs) in El Geneina and provided legal aid to victims of human rights violations in Darfur. On 11th June 2023, Khidir Sulieman Abdelmageed, head of the Afkar- a human rights organisation- was attacked and killed on the road in El Geneina while trying to leave his house after receiving death threats. The human rights defender worked with several national and international human rights organisations that monitored human rights violations in Sudan. The Darfur Bar Association reported that all three defenders had received death threats from militia members while working on cases related to attacks on IDP camps in El Geneina before their killings.
On 17th and 18th June 2023, three HRDs were killed in El Geneina, West Darfur. Abd Elrazeg Adam Mohammed, who worked for the Darfur Network of Monitors, was killed alongside his family. Tareg Hassan Yagoub Elmalik was a member of the Darfur Bar Association and the Sudanese Bar Association. El Sadeg Mohammed Ahmed Haroun was a lawyer at the Darfur Bar Association and was part of a group of lawyers who filed cases against the RSF, accusing them of horrific attacks on the Krinding camp for internally displaced persons in El Geneina. Earlier in May 2023, the Darfur Bar Association reported that the HRDs were receiving death threats from military members.
On 4th August 2023, the tortured body of human rights defender and lawyer Ahmed Mohamed Abdella was found in Nyala, South Darfur, less than 24 hours after he was kidnapped from his house by a group of unknown armed individuals. The perpetrators called Abdell’s family on the same day to demand a ransom of SDG 30 million to release him. Abdella worked as a lawyer for the Darfur Bar Association and provided legal aid to victims of human rights violations. His neighbour, Adam Omer Jad Elrab, who used to work with the International Medical Corps (IMC) in Darfur, was also found dead. Both men had severe torture marks on their bodies.
On 26th October 2023, WHRD Bahjaa Abdelaa was shot and killed at a funeral in Nyala, South Darfur. She was a member of the Women Revolutionary group, which advocated for women’s rights, gender equality, and social justice, and a member of the Darfur Coalition of Women Human Rights Defenders (TMD). Earlier in May 2023, Abdelaa reported that she was receiving death threats due to her legitimate human rights work.
On a positive note, on 8th June 2023, the Sudanese military released human rights defender Alaa Nugud after thirteen days of detention in an unknown location. He was released without any charges being brought against him. Nugud, a medical doctor, spokesperson of the Sudanese Professionals’ Association and a member of the Forces of Freedom and Change-Central Council (FFC-CC), has been advocating for an end to the conflict and violence. After spending more than a week in detention, on 18th April, Sudanese authorities released Yasir Mirghani, a Sudanese human rights defender, pharmacist and head of the Sudanese Consumers Protection Society (SCPS), on personal guarantee. He was facing charges of corruption concerning EU funds received by the SCPS in 2012.
CSOs FACE RESTRICTIONS
A report by the OHCHR notes that CSOs continue to face challenges to their operation. For example, CSOs had to seek prior approval to host events and submit an application detailing the event agenda and the list of facilitators and participants. In some cases, CSOs working on human rights had their requests denied. In other cases, the intelligence services or Sudanese authorities cancelled events, requested to be present or interrogated event organisers. In one example, in June 2024, authorities requested that a women’s rights organisation in the Kordofan region suspend a previously approved activity, and its staff was subsequently interrogated by the General Intelligence Service.
Peaceful Assembly
According to a report by the OHCHR on the situation in Sudan issued in April 2025, at least 115 emergency orders were imposed or renewed, regulating curfews, restrictions on movement, freedom of opinion and expression and peaceful assembly. Most of these orders failed to meet international human rights standards applicable to a state of emergency, including requirements of legality, necessity and proportionality.
More recently, on 21st July 2025, women and girls in Kadugli city, located in South Kordofan of the Nuba Mountains, organised a protest urging the Sudanese military to release food from its storage facilities to address the city’s ongoing food shortage. Authorities detained at least eight women for two days following the demonstration and those in early June, when Sudanese police fired tear gas and rubber bullets to disperse a peaceful sit-in in the northern city of Wadi Halfa, where residents have been protesting new electricity cuts.
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INTERNET SHUTDOWNS ARE A CONCERN
Since April 2023, the RSF and SAF have imposed internet shutdowns as a means to block information flows in areas controlled by the opposing faction. This has worsened the humanitarian crisis, hampered the delivery of aid and prevented residents and civil society from documenting crimes against humanity. For example, the frontline humanitarian work of Emergency Response Rooms (ERR) spontaneously created to help coordinate support for Sudanese people impacted by the war and provide life-saving services to communities, was impacted. In addition, Sudanese people in the diaspora and those coordinating emergency responses in the country were unable to send or transfer money to Sudan and within Sudan via mobile banking applications.
In a joint statement, Access Now and several other organisations condemned the internet shutdowns, which began on 2nd February 2024, after the RSF had seized control of the data centres of several internet service providers in Khartoum. Limited connectivity returned after 10 days, with full service only returning in May 2024. Furthermore, localised internet disruptions in areas of ongoing armed conflict occurred between June 2023 and May 2024, including in Khartoum, Omdurman, and cities across the Darfur and Kordofan regions, with some shutdowns lasting months.
The internet blackout has had significant impacts on journalists' ability to do their work. According to the Committee to Protect Journalists (CPJ), journalists had to access the internet via the Starlink satellite internet system (founded by billionaire entrepreneur Elon Musk) with devices rented out by the RSF at high prices. One journalist, Ataf Mohamed, raised concerns in an interview with CPJ that the RSF can track journalists who use the internet via Starlink..
In its Freedom of Net report 2024, Freedom House noted how the RSF and RAF have weaponised the online space by spreading disinformation and propaganda through social media channels. In a statement, Article 19 called on parties to stop spreading disinformation. “These disinformation campaigns make it extremely difficult for civilians to access reliable information and distinguish what is true and false. Disinformation can further escalate tensions, fuel hatred and mistrust, and undermine efforts to reach a peaceful resolution.”
In January 2024, the acting minister of the federal government and governors of several states under the military’s control issued decisions prohibiting the publication of any information that “disparages the prestige of the state” or state bodies, including the military, using any means of communication. Punishments for violations include fines of up to three million pounds ($4,970) and prison terms up to five years.
SAFETY OF JOURNALISTS: DETENTIONS AND KILLINGS
According to the Committee to Protect Journalists (CPJ), as of November 20255, at least fifteen journalists have been killed since April 2023. Sudan remains one of the most dangerous countries in the world for journalists since the conflict between the SAF and the RSF broke out in April 2023. Reporters without Borders reports that some fifteen media professionals have been detained, and two of them are still behind bars.
In April 2023, several press freedom organisations raised their concerns after at least 15 journalists and media workers were trapped inside the Sudanese News Agency building for three days, without food and basic items. They were unable to leave the building as a result of fighting and shooting. A similar incident took place at the offices of Al Hurra TV and Russia Today (RT). The offices of the General Authority for Radio and Television and Tana agency were hit by projectiles as a result of fighting. In one case during October 2024, the home of journalist Ashraf Omer Ibrahim, who works as a South Darfur Radio and Television correspondent and a local Al-Zarqa, was seized by the RSF in South Darfur.
DETENTION OF JOURNALISTS
Journalists have faced detentions and beatings since April 2023. Several cases have been documented by the Sudanese Journalists Syndicate and CPJ. On 1st May 2023, the RSF shot Sudanese photographer Faiz Abubaker in the back while he was covering clashes in Khartoum. They held him for three hours at a checkpoint, where he was threatened at knife point and beaten. Between 16 and 18 May 2023, RSF beat and robbed three journalists: Ahmed Fadl, a reporter for Qatari broadcaster Al-Jazeera, Rashid Gibril, a photographer for the outlet, and freelance journalist Eissa Dafaallah and detained Fadl and Gibril overnight. On 30 May, RSF soldiers detained journalist Nader Shulkawi at a checkpoint in Omdurman after he identified himself as a journalist. On 18th January 2024, RSF soldiers arrested freelance journalist Ogail Ahmed Naime in Khartoum, without disclosing the reason for the arrest or the place of detention. He was released a few days later. On 22nd January 2024, RSF soldiers searched the home and confiscated the cell phones of journalist Haitham Dafallah and his brother Omar Dafallah, before arresting them both. Similarly, on 30th April 2024, RSF soldiers arrested and raided the home of Abdelaziz Mahmoud Arja, a photographer with state-owned Sudan TV. On 18th May 2024, Tarik Abdallah, editor-in-chief of independent newspaper Al-Ahram al-Youm, was arrested at his home and taken to an unknown location. The CPJ called for his immediate release. On 23rd August 2024, the RSF soldiers took freelance journalist Aladdin Abu Harba from his home in the East Nile region of Khartoum and detained him in an unknown location. They initially demanded a ransom of one million Sudanese pounds (US$400); after receiving it, they demanded another million and threatened to kill the journalist. Earlier on 16th August 2024, a group of armed men raided the home of freelance journalist Abdulrahman Haneen in East Nile, held him at gunpoint, and stole his belongings, including his laptops, mobile phones and money.
On 16th May 2024, Sudanese Armed Forces arrested freelance journalist Siddiq Dalay over a social media post related to his relative, the head of a local branch of the Sudanese Congress Party- who died from injuries allegedly inflicted during his detention by the SAF. On 17th July 2024, the SAF military intelligence arrested Omar Mohamed Omar, after he criticised the governor of North Kordofan in the state of South Sudan on his personal Facebook page for the lack of services and the worsening water crisis in the state due to the conflict. On 19th April 2025, the SAF arrested journalist Emtithal Abdel Fadil while she was on her way to Port Sudan. During the arrest, she was blindfolded, while her phone and social media accounts were searched. She was questioned for three days before being released without charge. Following her release, the RAF imposed a travel ban on Fadil on the grounds that she could be summoned for further questioning at any time.
KILLING OF JOURNALISTS
On 10th October 2023, journalist Halima Idris Salim, from independent news outlet Sudan Bukra, was killed by the RSF when they ran over her with a vehicle. Reporters Without Borders (RSF) called for an independent investigation into the reporter's death. On 1st March 2024, armed soldiers in El Fasher, the capital of North Darfur state, shot and killed Khalid Balal, media director at the Sudanese government’s Supreme Council for Media and Culture, inside his home. In a statement, CPJ said it was unable to establish which paramilitary group was responsible for the killing. On 4th June 2024, RSF raided the home of journalist Muawiya Abdel Razek and shot him dead, along with three of his family members. Earlier in December 2023, the RSF detained Abdel Razek, an investigative journalist who worked with many local newspapers, accusing him of working with military intelligence. On 5th June 2024, journalist Makawi Mohamed Ahmed, a reporter at the official state news agency of Sudan (SUNA), and his brother Shamseddine Mohamed Ahmed, were killed by the RSF during its attack on the village of Wad Al-Noura, in Al Jazirah state, which killed about 100 people.
On 13rd February 2025, prominent journalist Yahya Hamad Fadlallah died in a hospital, one month after SAF arrested him and his son at their home in the capital, Khartoum. Fadlallah, who was tortured by the RAF, was falsely accused of collaborating with the RSF and denied medical treatment for his diabetes. On 21st March 2025, journalist Farouk al-Zahir, producer and director, Magdy Abdel Rahman, a camera operator, Ibrahim Mudawi, an editor and director, and the crew’s driver, Wajeh Jaafar, were killed in a drone strike by the RSF while covering events in Khartoum. On 14th April 2025, journalist Ahmed Mohamed Saleh Sayyidna was killed in a shelling attack on El-Fasher, a city in North Darfur, amid ongoing fighting between RSF and RAF. The CPJ stated that it is still investigating the circumstances around the journalist's death.
TAKEOVER AND BANNING OF MEDIA OUTLETS
On 15th April 2023, the RSF raided and took control of the state television headquarters in Omdurman and stopped its broadcast. The Sudanese Journalists Syndicate reported that the RSF has turned buildings owned by the Sudan Broadcasting Corporation into detention facilities, and has been selling its broadcasting equipment in local markets. Similarly, on 15th April 2023, Hala 96, a local independent radio station, shut down due to signal interruptions. In a statement to CPJ, the station’s employees reported that RSF forces occupied the building weeks later when a widely circulated video showed armed individuals inside using the office equipment and threatening the military. The journalist union also reported that the equipment of local independent television channels Sudania 24, Al-Balad, Al-Neel Al-Azraq, and British broadcaster BBC was looted from their offices and sold in local markets. The CPJ called on all parties to respect media establishments.
On 3rd April 2024, Sudan’s Ministry of Media and Culture suspended the Abu Dhabi-based Sky News Arabia news channel and Saudi Arabia’s state-owned channels Al Arabiya and Al Hadath for allegedly failing to renew their licenses and for “their inability to uphold necessary standards of professionalism and transparency”. The Sudanese Journalists Syndicate, a local trade union, condemned the ministry’s decision as a “clear violation of freedom of expression and the freedom of the press.”