Fadwa Al-Khazraji, a Sudanese journalist and human rights activist, recalls receiving an international phone call where the speaker asked for her location without waiting for an answer. The caller’s threats, vowing to reach her, continue to haunt her.

The call came after Al-Khazraji published an investigative report documenting incidents of rape faced by women and girls in Darfur, four months after the outbreak of war in Sudan on April 15, 2023. Despite the threats, Al-Khazraji continued her coverage of the war in Sudan, leading to more intimidation.

On the morning of April 15, 2023, clashes erupted in the capital, Khartoum, between the Sudanese Armed Forces led by Abdel Fattah al-Burhan and the Rapid Support Forces (RSF) led by Mohamed Hamdan Dagalo, known as “Hemedti.” At least 56 people were killed on the first day, according to the Central Committee of Sudanese Doctors. The conflict later spread to other regions, including Northern, North Kordofan, South Kordofan, Darfur, Blue Nile, Al-Gedaref, and Al-Jazira, according to published reports.

Since the start of the war, Al-Khazraji focused on covering humanitarian stories and revealing the truth, which exposed her to more threats and online harassment. On February 22, 2024, social media accounts shared photos of Al-Khazraji with offensive comments after she published a report on the deteriorating conditions in South Kordofan, which was under siege by the Armed Forces, the RSF, and the Sudan People’s Liberation Movement.

Her coverage included a report on a man who, driven by hunger, exchanged his 15-year-old daughter for a portion of flour. 

Al-Khazraji said these threats are not new to her; she has previously faced kidnapping attempts and received serious threats even before the war began. “They don’t want their violations to be exposed,” she explained.

The experiences of Al-Khazraji resonate with those of journalist Samar Suleiman. After the first ceasefire between the warring parties in Sudan on April 18, 2023, Suleiman left Khartoum for Kassala, more than 480 kilometers from the capital. From there, she wrote reports about the violations faced by Sudanese women during the war and participated in humanitarian aid efforts for displaced people in local shelters.

Suleiman said she received threats via the Messenger app, including one from a former minister. She was also offered money to publish news on her Facebook page. When she declined, she received threats stating they would come for her.

Blacklists and Social Media Campaigns

Suleiman said the threats caused concern for her and her family. “My family feared for my safety, and I would only leave the house accompanied by my sister or a friend,” she said.

Before long, Suleiman became a target on social media, where some accused her of being a “sleeper cell” working secretly for the RSF. Furthermore, journalists’ names, including hers, were placed on so-called “shame and disgrace” blacklists, accusing them of affiliations with the RSF. According to journalist Sara Taj Al-Sir, her name appeared on one of these lists alongside others, and she faced criticism on social media after meeting with a U.S. envoy, especially after the envoy posted a photo with the journalists on his official page.

According to the Sudanese Journalists’ Union, anonymous lists emerged, identifying journalists accused of working for one of the warring parties. The union warned that such lists could make those named potential targets for violence once the fighting ends.

Who Protects Journalists?

During the first year of the war, the Sudanese Journalists’ Union documented 393 violations against journalists, including killings, forced disappearances, detentions, shootings, beatings, property theft, travel bans, and threats. The union recorded 43 direct threats made via phone calls or text messages, at least 15 of which were aimed at female journalists.

Among the cases:

Inam Al-Noor: Received anonymous death threats via phone.

Najwa Badawi: Was pursued by the RSF, who reached her family’s home in Al-Daain, East Darfur, and threatened her with murder and sexual assault due to her reports and films produced in Darfur.

Nadia Bilal: Faced a series of threats via phone and social media, with messages stating that military intelligence would not leave her alone.

Samar Suleiman: Experienced threats and intimidation targeting her and her family by the RSF, forcing them to leave their home in East Nile, Khartoum.

Aisha Al-Samani: Authorities raided her family’s home after they had evacuated, questioned neighbors, and left threatening messages on the walls, including racially charged statements.

Hanem Adam: The RSF issued a blacklist that included names, including journalist Inam Ahmaday, accusing them of working for the opposing side and threatening to track them down and kill them.

Inaam Ahmaday: Received threats through Messenger and her Facebook posts.

Marwa Al-Zein: Faced harassment by security forces in Al-Qutaynah, White Nile, while covering events, and was ordered to cease publishing without approval from the local police chief.

Rasha Hassan: Military intelligence units in Kassala were instructed to apprehend her based on a circulated order with her photo.

Samar Suleiman:A blacklist issued by the Rapid Support Forces (RSF) included the names of individuals, among them journalist Inam Al-Noor, accusing them of working for the opposing side, along with threats of being tracked down and killed.

Inaam Al-Noor:The journalist received death threats from anonymous accounts via the Messenger app.

Dalia Al-Taher:According to Iman Fadl, the Sudanese Journalists’ Union’s Secretary for Freedom, the primary violation faced by journalists is being forced to hide their journalistic identity from both warring parties because “a journalist is seen as a criminal by both sides.”

Iman Fadel explained that the Sudanese Journalists’ Union documents and monitors violations, issues statements, and delivers reports to human rights organizations globally. The union also provides support to affected journalists, though Fadel noted that “taking legal action is difficult due to the circumstances of the war.”

In April 2024, Samar Suleiman filed a complaint with the relevant prosecutor’s office, which registered seven reports after she received multiple threats and became the target of an online smear campaign. Military intelligence units in Kassala were mobilized to arrest her based on a circulated notice that included her photo. In response, the Journalists’ Union expressed its support for Suleiman by issuing a statement, and social media was flooded with posts expressing solidarity with her. 

On the other hand, journalist Fadwa Al-Khazraji noted that the union documented the threats she faced, but it was unable to take any concrete action. Al-Khazraji does not blame the union, acknowledging that it is “a journalistic body made up of journalists who are exposed to the same violations as the ones they document,” as she put it.

The Halting of Coverage

A 2023 study conducted by the Women in Journalism organization and REACH, which included 403 female journalists and media workers, found that nearly half of the participants promoted their work less online due to digital threats. Additionally, about a third said online harassment made them seriously consider leaving the field of journalism.

These findings align with a 2021 UNESCO and International Center for Journalists (ICFJ) study on global trends in online violence against female journalists. That study, which surveyed around 900 female journalists, revealed that digital violence affects their work and productivity. Thirty-eight percent of respondents reported reducing their social media presence due to threats, and four percent said such threats pushed them to consider leaving their jobs altogether.

The ongoing war in Sudan has halted the operations of many media outlets, but smear campaigns and threats against female journalists have caused some to stop writing temporarily.

For photojournalist Inaam Ahmaday, threats are nothing new. Her home was attacked six times by the RSF, during which she faced verbal abuse and attempted physical assault. Her male relatives were also harmed, all because of her work documenting violations by the warring parties in Sudan.

Ahmaday continues to receive threatening calls from unknown numbers, mostly from neighboring countries. She either blocks the numbers or ignores the calls.

Both Samar Suleiman and Fadwa Al-Khazraji managed to leave Sudan and are now seeking ways to continue their journalism work.

On July 4, 2024, Ahmaday was interrogated after returning from a reporting assignment covering the situation of displaced people from Sennar and Singa. She said military intelligence officers erased all her photos and recordings before releasing her. Since then, she has not returned to work.