Accountability for International Crimes in Sudan

REDRESS has worked in Sudan for three decades to address violations of human rights and seek justice for victims of torture and other violations

Sudanese Law and Policy Resources

Justice + Conflict Updates: Archive

Sudan has a well-documented history of serious violations of human rights law perpetrated by its military and security establishment, including torture, arbitrary detention, enforced disappearance, and extrajudicial killings.

The military regime has, especially since the 1989 coup, fostered a kleptocratic State where loyalty is rewarded with patronage and political power is brokered and preserved principally by violence. Meanwhile, its architects have systematically dismantled Sudan’s laws and institutions, enshrining a pervasive culture of impunity. The resulting power asymmetries have caused cycles of conflict – as well as peaceful civilian protests. Rather than challenge the root causes of Sudan’s cyclical instability, mediators have consistently reinforced the prevailing logic of recourse to violence as the principal means of doing politics – prioritising ultimately short-term (negative) peace-making over effective criminal accountability and other measures that directly challenge structural violence.

Working in this context and in close collaboration with a range of Sudanese partners, REDRESS has:

Photo credit: David Rose/Panos Pictures.