Sudan – Journalists in Sudan face grave challenges that threaten their lives and freedom. Violations range from murder and arrest to enforced disappearance, in addition to restrictions on freedom of expression, smear campaigns, and threats. This makes practicing journalism extremely dangerous and puts media freedom to a severe test.

The Sudanese Journalists Syndicate (SJS) revealed in a recent report released Wednesday, January 14, that 14 journalists and media workers were killed during 2025. The report also documented six cases of enforced disappearance, four cases of prolonged detention, nine cases of arbitrary arrest and temporary detention, and four cases of legal prosecution.

The syndicate explained that its 2025 press freedom report also documented eight cross-border violations against journalists in countries of asylum, 19 cases of threats and hate speech, smear campaigns, and three institutional decisions and procedures that restrict journalistic work.

The report revealed the plight of Sudanese female journalists, describing it as a complex targeting that includes arrest, defamation, and threats, amidst additional social and security restrictions that impede their access to protection and support.

The SJS stated that El Fasher, the capital of North Darfur State in western Sudan, was one of the most dangerous hotspots for violations against journalists in 2025. This was due to continuous bombing, a lack of security, and a near-total communications and internet blackout, which hampered documentation efforts and restricted journalists' ability to access the facts.

The syndicate's report also noted three cases of journalists who disappeared while in El Fasher before the massacres that coincided with the Rapid Support Forces' takeover of the city in October 2025. No information is available regarding their whereabouts or circumstances. The syndicate called on all parties to the conflict to uphold their obligation to protect journalists as civilians, to immediately release all those arbitrarily detained, and to disclose the fate of those forcibly disappeared.