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

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:

brought to light critical human rights concerns through detailed documentation and reporting, including international crimes perpetrated by the warring parties during the current armed conflict, and serious violations and torture-tainted trials following the October 2021 coup;
helped to change laws and practices on issues including torture, women’s rights and accountability, through policy analysis and advocacy;
provided evidence dossiers to the International Criminal Court, UN Fact-Finding Mission on Sudan, and national war crimes and targeted sanctions units, resulting in the arrest of – and designations made against – individual perpetrators; and
provided legal representation to victims in some of the most emblematic cases of human rights violations in Sudan.

Photo credit: David Rose/Panos Pictures.