New Report: The Situation of Human Rights Defenders, Emergency Response Rooms and Humanitarian Workers in Sudan
SudanDefenders is pleased to present its 2026 report examining the situation of human rights defenders, members of Emergency Response Rooms (ERRs), and humanitarian workers operating amid Sudan’s ongoing armed conflict.
Covering the period from January to October 2026, the report documents the risks, violations, and operational restrictions affecting individuals and groups working to defend human rights, support communities, document violations, and provide essential humanitarian assistance.
During the reporting period, SudanDefenders documented 339 violations across 79 incidents involving 152 unique victims in different Sudanese states. The report stresses that a single incident may involve multiple violations and an individual victim may experience several interconnected violations, meaning these figures should not be combined to produce a separate overall victim or incident total.
The documented patterns include arbitrary deprivation of liberty, torture and ill-treatment, threats and intimidation, restrictions on freedom of expression and civic space, digital targeting and privacy violations, judicial harassment, enforced disappearance, and the targeting of humanitarian and medical workers and Emergency Response Room volunteers.
Beyond documenting violations, the report examines their wider impact on civic space and humanitarian response. It highlights how threats, restrictions on movement and access, confiscation of resources, insecurity, and other pressures have affected the ability of human rights defenders and humanitarian actors to continue their work and reach communities in need.
The report calls on all parties to the conflict to respect international humanitarian and human rights law, protect civilians and those engaged in human rights and humanitarian work, ensure safe humanitarian access, and support independent investigations and accountability. It also calls on the African Union, United Nations, and international donors to strengthen protection, monitoring, accountability, and sustainable support for national organisations and community-led initiatives.
SudanDefenders invites human rights actors, humanitarian organisations, policymakers, donors, regional and international institutions, researchers, and members of the public to read the full report and engage with its findings and recommendations.
Read and download the full report below.
