The ongoing violence by government forces, the Janjaweed militia and armed opposition groups forms the backdrop to continued harassment, arbitrary arrests, incommunicado detentions and alleged torture of human rights defenders by Sudanese military and security forces. Freedom of expression and freedom of association and assembly have been increasingly curtailed. In particular, NGO members, journalists and student activists have been targeted.

The operational freedom of human rights organisations in Sudan has been severely limited by the enactment of the Organisation of Humanitarian Voluntary Work Act on 20 February 2006. This legislation places stringent registration requirements on non-governmental organisations (NGOs) and effectively gives the authorities the power arbitrarily to deny or cancel an NGO’s registration. Under the Act, the authorities may review any NGO documents, suspend NGO activities, dissolve their executive committees, dismiss NGO members, expel international NGO members from the country and seize NGO assets where registration is cancelled. Human rights defenders reporting on human rights violations in Darfur or criticising the use of torture by authorities have been arrested. In particular, many human rights defenders documenting crimes of sexual violence have had criminal charges brought against them. The press is heavily censored, with journalists harassed, arbitrary bureaucratic restrictions imposed on Sudanese media, and the operations of newspapers publishing articles critical of the authorities suspended. Freedom of assembly is severely limited, and participants in human rights seminars, workshops and conferences have been subject to harassment, interrogation and arbitrary detention.

The space available to political activists and human rights defenders has drastically diminished following the decision of the International Criminal Court on 4 March 2009 to issue an arrest warrant against Sudanese President Omar Al Bashir. The authorities revoked the registrations and seized the assets of three human rights organisations; the Khartoum Centre for Human Rights and Environmental Development (KCHRED), the Sudan Social Development Organisation (SUDO) and the Amal Centre for Rehabilitation of Violence Victims (Amal Centre). Senior members of these organisations were harassed and arrested, and trumped-up charges were brought against them. These organisations had provided critical legal aid, human rights monitoring and humanitarian services in Darfur and throughout Sudan.