An urgent appeal from Sudanese journalists to the world

The war in Sudan is disappearing from view. Since the start of the conflict on April 15, 2023, tens of thousands of civilians have been killed and millions displaced. But the numbers, terrifying as they are, fail to capture the scale of the ongoing humanitarian tragedy.

For over two years now, the warring parties have threatened and harassed us, blocking our cameras, microphones and pens from giving a face and voice to the victims of war. They have prevented us from reporting on the famine already affecting millions of people, many of them held captive in North Darfur by the Rapid Support Forces’ siege of Fasher and subject to an exchange of fire from both sides that can often disregard or, worse, directly target civilian casualties. For more than two years now, Sudan has been sinking into oblivion, increasingly removed from the international sphere, deprived of the political attention 50 million inhabitants so desperately need. We — Sudanese journalists and international special correspondents, alongside Reporters Without Borders (RSF) — are calling for a vigorous international effort to support those risking their lives to report from Sudan or keep reporting from exile.

Partners of Sudan must convince the warring parties to commit to support journalism in Sudan. The warring parties — both the Sudanese authorities and the Rapid Support Forces — must guarantee reporters independent and secure access to the whole country, currently divided into areas under military and paramilitary control. Propaganda from both sides is increasing divides daily, making the role of journalists — those who provide independent, fact-checked information — all the more critical in the search for dialogue and reconciliation.

Continuing impunity for crimes committed against journalists by the warring factions is fuelling a climate of terror that is forcing journalists into self-censorship or exile. In the past two years, at least seven colleagues have been killed because of their work: Sudan National Broadcasting Corporation journalists Issam Hassan Morjan and Sami Abd al-Hafidh; Halima Idris Salim from the independent television channel Sudan Bukra; Ahmed Youssef Arabi from Blue Nile TV; Khaled Balel, journalist and media director at the Sudanese Supreme Council for Media and Culture; investigative journalist Muawiya Abdel Razek, a contributor to the Sudanese online newspapers Al-Jarida, Akhir Lahza and Al-Akhbar; and cameraman Hatem Maamoun, a contributor to Sudania24. Abdel Rahman Warab, a journalist with the Sudanese news agency SUNA, remains missing, reportedly abducted from his home in Khartoum in June 2023.

In addition to these murders, at least 17 colleagues have been detained. Hassan Hamed, a reporter for Independent Arabia, was arrested by government forces in October 2023 while reporting in Port Sudan and remains behind bars. Since January 2024, Rapid Support Forces have been holding audiovisual technician Mamoun Hassan Hamid in an undisclosed location.

We call for the immediate release of the two detained media professionals, an investigation into the disappearance of Abdel Rahman Warab and justice for our colleagues who have paid with their lives for their work in reporting the news.

Signatories:

Shawgi Abdel Azim al-Amari, editor-in-chief, Istiqsai

Mohamed Abdel Aziz, journalist, Al-Demoqraty

Rasha Awad, editor-in-chief, Al-Taghyeer

Ali el-Dali, correspondent, Al-Horra

Othman Fadlallah, journalist, Ufuq Jdeed

Ahmed el-Taher Gouja, journalist and founder, Darfur Network for Human Rights (DNHR)

Mohamed Latif, journalist, Teeba Press

Mohamed Nagi, editor-in-chief, Sudan Tribune

Kamal Elsadig, editor-in-chief, Radio Dabanga

Faysal Mohamed Salih, journalist, Al-Sharq al-Awsat