2.3.2. Situation of journalists and other media personnel

Sudan remains one of the most dangerous countries in the world for journalists.347 It was the second-highest country for journalist deaths in 2024348 and it ranked 156 out of 180 countries in the 2025 Reporter without Borders Press Freedom Index, with all indicators worsening compared to 2024. 349 Since April 2023, at least 16 journalists have been killed according to the Committee to Protect Journalists (CPJ), 350 while The Sudan Journalists’ Syndicate (SJS) reported 31 journalists’ fatalities. 351 According to Ayin network, 556 journalists have been subject to human rights violations, 500 have been forced to flee the country, 239 have been arrested and detained and 1 000 have lost their jobs. 352 A survey conducted by the international NGO Media in Cooperation and Transition (MiCT) found that 90 out of more than 200 Sudanese journalists surveyed have experienced psychological threats and acts of violence.353

Journalists who remained in the country have been subjected to killings, detentions, enforced disappearance, attacks, and other abuses. As noted by Internews, authorities tightened control over journalism through work permits, movement restrictions, digital surveillance, and violence.354

A journalist in exile, Leima Eljali Abubakr, stated in 2025 that ‘journalists and media institutions have become direct targets of the warring factions.’355 As of April 2025, around 70 journalists of those still in Sudan were reportedly working in the conflict zones, many of them forced to work in hiding or anonymously.356 In February 2026, Dabanga confirmed that around 80 % of journalists had lost their work since the start of the conflict.357

Both warring parties have targeted journalists, leaving no safe zones in either SAF- or RSF-controlled areas. While the SAF forces have been accused of arbitrary detentions, interrogations and torture of journalists accused of spreading false information or collaborating with the RSF, the latter has been accused of abductions, extortion and killing of journalists in areas under its control.358 Journalists and media workers have been killed by or after having been targeted by the RSF and the SAF. On February 2025, the SAF arrested a journalist on reportedly false RSF collaboration charges; he died in the hospital after reported torture and denied diabetes treatment.359

Beyond targeted killings, journalists and media workers have been subjected to arbitrary detention, threats and intimidation.360 Reporters without Borders documented around 15 arbitrary detentions of media professionals since April 2023, with 2 of them remaining behind bars as of June 2025.361 The CFJ recorded three cases of enforced disappearance and three cases of arbitrary arrest of journalists across Khartoum, Darfur, and Sennar. Some journalists were held for nearly a full year with no indication of which entities were responsible for their detention or their whereabouts.362

Arbitrary detentions involved media professionals ranging from freelance journalists and employees of the Sudanese public network SNBC, to journalists working for Al-Jazeera, Egyptian TV station Al-Ghad and the Lebanese website Tayyar. Most of these arbitrary detentions lasted several days, although some lasted much longer. Al-Jarida journalist Ali Tarek Arash was held for nearly ten months after his arrest by SAF soldiers due to his articles on abuses against IDPs. Hassan Hamed, a reporter for Independent Arabia, was arrested by SAF forces in October 2023 while reporting from Port Sudan. In January 2024, RSF forces unlawfully arrested media contributor Hassan Hamid. As of April 2025 both remained in detention. 363 In late July 2025, RSF forces abducted Darfur 90.3 radio director364 from the Ardeiba market in El-Geneina in West Darfur,365 confiscating his equipment and reportedly transferred him from a detention centre to Dagres Prison, southwest of Nyala in South Darfur in August 2025, despite the absence of formal charges.366 In October 2025, a freelance journalist was reportedly detained by RSF forces during the paramilitary group’s advance on the capital of North Darfur.367 According to the organisation ARTICLE 19, the journalist, who had been reporting from El Fasher while the city had been under siege for 18 months, was accused of ‘defamation’ over his coverage of atrocities.368 In the same month, journalists based in El Fasher interviewed by the CPJ reported that the RSF raided neighbourhoods of the city and used informants to identify journalists.369 According to the Sudan Media Forum (SMF), some journalists have been kidnapped and beaten while others have been ostracised over their coverage of the Sudan conflict.370 In El Fasher, journalists reported being detained due to their journalistic activities, leading to self-censorship and anonymity out of fear of retaliation .371 According to information received by Reporters without Borders, at least fifteen journalists have been subjected to cyber-harassment campaigns due to their reporting. Furthermore, foreign journalists who have reported from Sudan told the organisation that RSF soldiers were monitoring their movements.372 For additional information see section 1.3.3. on access to information, misinformation and media landscape.

In June 2025, Journalist Leima Eljali Abubakr described pre-war Sudan as a hostile environment for journalists, and particularly for women journalists enduring ‘systemic discrimination’, gender-based violence (GBV), and exclusion from decision-making processes.373

Of the 1 500 Sudanese journalists active before the conflict only 20 % were women and those currently still active face worse conditions, having to operate in a largely gender insensitive media environment.374 A Sudanese journalist told the Mashawir platform that ‘during the war, women journalists have been subjected to various types of systematic attacks aimed at silencing them and preventing them from reporting facts and covering events. Both sides of the conflict also exert significant pressure on women journalists, including threats of death and physical liquidation [elimination], as well as confiscation of equipment and closure of media institutions.’ As of May 2025, five women journalists have been killed since the beginning of the war according to the Sudanese Journalists Syndicate (SJS).375 Four cases of physical assault or injury involving women journalists had been recorded, and 11 women journalists had been victims of shootings. 12 women journalists had been arrested without clear legal orders, often in connection to their journalistic work or writings criticising the authorities, the army, or the RSF.376

In October 2025, a female journalists based in El Fasher told CPJ that she was detained for 45 days in April and May 2025 due to her reporting of the siege of the city. She mentioned another journalist being ‘beat and gang-raped’ after her profession was discovered. 377 See section 2.1.3 for additional information on female journalists and human rights activists.