Sudan

Sudan has signed on to many international agreements protecting human rights (with notable exceptions including conventions relating to refugees, migrant workers and Indigenous peoples), but faces challenges in implementation and regularly violates the agreements. 

Since 2020, there have been attempts to reform discriminatory laws. For example, the Juba Peace Agreement granted authority to states to establish schools to teach local languages and culture. While the Ministry of Justice tried to reform many laws, the October 2021 coup stopped this process. 

Sudan embeds structural imbalances in its citizenship policies that privilege some ethnicities over others. Barriers including the high cost of identity documents and the need for Sudanese to provide detailed proof of their birth in Sudan and their parents’ status can lead to disenfranchisement. 

Periods of successive conflicts have negatively impacted policy implementation. Even when governments have agreed on policy reform, they do not or cannot implement changes due to the chaos brought by conflict. Key officials (military, armed groups, police) are not held accountable for upholding the laws and benefit from impunity.  

Few government offices in Sudan perform data collection and when they do, it is systematically biased. Arabic is used as the sole language for data collection, excluding those who do not speak the language. UN agencies collect data, but mostly only in urban areas, meaning there is no accurate demographic data for Sudan. 

Sudanese organize to contest policies and advocate for their communities, but they are often met with violence including death, disappearance, and imprisonment. People are not allowed to make claims in their own languages. Women played a key role in protests during uprisings in recent years, but faced sexual violence and harassment as a result, including from their fellow protestors. 

Most political parties put forward principles of non-discrimination and respect for human rights. In practice, most parties do not have diverse membership or leadership. The two main national parties are active in pastoralist and farming areas but these groups are not represented in leadership roles. Most parties are led by Muslims and almost never have a woman leader. Parties are traditionally regional and advocate for inclusion of their local ethnic groups. There are many armed movements that claim to work for better inclusion of marginalized groups. 

The state controls most news media, so there is little room for diverse voices and there is active exclusion of non-Arab voices. Economic inequality is either hidden or portrayed inaccurately by the media. Farmers and pastoralists are rarely included in coverage, as are members of the informal employment sector, many of whom are displaced women. 

Laws were proposed in 2020 to improve access to information and media freedom, but the 2021 coup ended the possibility of their passage and resulted in the blocking of the internet. Since the war began in 2023, the media has been largely used for propaganda. Some alternative media exists, like a radio broadcast from the Netherlands in national dialects for Darfur nationalities, Arabic and English.

Civil society has played a key role in promoting peace during past and present conflicts. It remains vibrant and diverse, despite a hostile environment where NGOs face increased regulation and political monitoring, and those focused on democracy and civic education have been shut down. Following the eruption of conflict in 2023, many NGOs operate from neighboring countries and face significant challenges to sustain their work. 

Most core businesses are controlled by Arabic-speaking groups from north and central-Sudan and those allied to the previous regime and are therefore not reflective of Sudan’s diversity. Large companies are only present in major cities like Khartoum or Port Sudan, and require English proficiency for employment, requiring expensive schooling. The informal economy represents 87 per cent of employment in Sudan, where people work precarious jobs with low wages. Women hold 3 per cent of leadership roles in companies.

There is unequal political representation in Sudan in terms of religion, region, ethnicity, language and gender, despite constitutions guaranteeing everyone the right to establish a political party. For the most part women do not occupy leadership positions in political parties or armed groups, despite policies intended to include them.

Sudan has experienced unequal economic growth and corruption which favours the traditional elites (merchants, clergy, military leaders) who control resources. The economy depends on farming, but the sector and its workers have been neglected since the exploration and export of oil. Many groups face barriers to accessing education which could improve their employment prospects. 

Conflict and political changes have worsened economic challenges like inflation, shortages of basic goods, and loss of agricultural production due to natural disasters. Groups like women, youth, and migrants are most negatively impacted by these challenges.  

All Sudanese have a right to access public services but face challenges in accessing enough quality services. Parents who want their children to have religious education outside the majority Sunni Muslim teachings or in a language other than Arabic must pay high fees for private schools. Public hospitals are centred in Khartoum and therefore inaccessible and also lack basic supplies. Women and girls face menstrual stigma, with limited access to sexual and reproductive health services. 

Sudanese central government does not tolerate or protect religious and cultural diversity. The expectation is for all peoples to conform to Arab and Sunni Muslim cultural markers. Languages other than Arabic are unprotected by law and are not taught in schools. In some cases, cultural markers of minority groups are illegal like the Kadmol head piece worn by some pastoral groups in Darfur, which is said to be worn by criminals. 

The justice system in Sudan is not independent. Judges have traditionally been expected to be loyal to the Islamist regime and entrenched Sharia laws. Cases against the government, especially around human rights issues, are either dismissed or take too long to process and impose high fees. The police, the military, and the Rapid Support Forces have immunity for the crimes they committed against civilians in conflict zones. Justice services are not offered in local languages.  

Intergroup violence is most present among farmers and pastoralists in conflict areas. Key reasons for this violence are environmental degradation and competition over resources. These conflicts also include an ethnic dimension as they were between pastoral tribes of Arab origin and settled agricultural tribes of African origin. Intergroup violence due to religion is uncommon, though violence in general has been escalating since 2018.  

Groups have faced challenges building trust with one another due to a history of conflict and government manipulation of differences. In trying to protect their own culture and language, groups can remain closed from one another. However, language can also be a uniting factor, including many groups using youth street slang called Randowk which became a form of resistance against the central government

With Sudan experiencing continued chaos and conflict, it is difficult for citizens to trust institutions. The transitional government of 2020 failed to bring perpetrators of violence to justice, eroding victims’ trust. The state dispossesses farmers of their land, so these groups look to traditional leaders for guidance and support. Informal workers do not trust the state to meet their needs so they developed their own schools, water service and power supply by collecting donations from their communities.  

Any group with a language or cultural marker that does not conform to the Arab and Muslim majority faces exclusion and a lack of acceptance, including those practicing minority Muslim faith traditions. Groups that share the same language feel included between one another, but do not feel accepted by the state or majority and generally face exclusion.  

Overall, many people in Sudan do not feel recognized by other Sudanese or the state. Certain elites have controlled politics and wealth post-independence, leaving little room for shared ownership of society. Rural groups facing land dispossession and environmental degradation feel a particular lack of ownership of society.