Arabic version: أحكام الإعدام بحق نساء في السودان تثير مخاوف بشأن العدالة

According to Allafrica, the growing number of harsh court sentences imposed on women during Sudan’s war, including death sentences, is a “profound failure of justice,” Hala Al-Karib, regional director of the Strategic Initiative for Women in the Horn of Africa, told Radio Dabanga.

Al-Karib said severe punishments imposed without considering women’s living conditions, economic circumstances and the coercive realities of conflict were incompatible with justice. She said women were being accused of collaborating with the Rapid Support Forces simply because they stayed with their families in areas later controlled by the paramilitary group.

She said remaining in those areas was often not a free choice, but reflected war, poverty, coercion and fear. High travel costs and prohibitively expensive rents in safer areas also left many families with few alternatives, she said.

Al-Karib said there was little reliable information about women in areas under RSF control, calling the situation a “deep well” with limited visibility. Citing 2025 figures, she said 840 women were being held in prisons controlled by the Sudanese army.

Women in RSF-controlled areas have faced abuses while trying to secure food, healthcare and other essentials for their families, Al-Karib said. She described their dealings with authorities imposed by the RSF as civilian actions, saying they should not be treated as crimes or grounds for prosecution. Sudan permits capital punishment under Article 27 of the Sudanese Criminal Act 1991, while Article 6 of the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights says the death penalty may be imposed only for the most serious crimes.