Sudan: Death Sentences for Women During Sudan's War 'Profound Failure of Justice'

What the report says

Women in Sudan are facing increasingly severe court rulings during the country’s war, including death sentences, in what Hala Al-Karib of the Strategic Initiative for Women in the Horn of Africa described to Radio Dabanga as a profound breakdown of justice. The report was published by Dabanga and distributed by AllAfrica, with the remarks attributed to Al-Karib in Amsterdam and dated 14 September 2026.

According to the article, Al-Karib argued that judges and authorities are failing to account for the wartime conditions shaping women’s lives, including displacement, poverty, coercion and fear. She said some women have been accused of cooperating with the Rapid Support Forces simply because they remained with their families in areas that later came under RSF control, even when staying was not a real choice.

The report also says many families have been trapped by the high cost of travel and rent in safer places, leaving women with limited options. Al-Karib said women in RSF-held areas face serious abuses and must often deal with armed authorities to secure food, health care and other essentials for their children and relatives. She described those efforts as civilian survival actions that should not be treated as crimes.

The article cites 2025 figures mentioned by Al-Karib indicating 840 women were being held in prisons controlled by the Sudanese army. In a broader context, capital punishment remains legal under Sudanese law, though international human rights standards restrict its use to the most serious crimes.