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Internet restrictions and government repression against online users intensified during and

following widespread antigovernment protests known as “Sudan Revolts” that erupted in June 2012

and were fueled in large part by digital media tools. In a country where traditional media journalists

have for decades faced routine censorship, detention, and violence, the events in 2012 led the

government to target bloggers and cyber-dissidents for the first time, with some facing detentions

for up to two months and one case of torture reported. Others fled Sudan for fear of their lives

after being subjected to threats, sexual assault, or torture.

The internet in Sudan is affordable and widely accessible in big cities and towns. According to the

International Telecommunications Union (ITU), internet penetration grew from 19 percent in

2011 to 21 percent in 2012, representing 7.5 million users in a country of 34.2 million.

However,

the number of users could be somewhat higher as internet-enabled mobile phones have become

widespread and cheaper in recent years. The National Telecommunications Corporation (NTC),

the government regulatory body, reported over 27 million cell phone subscriptions in Sudan as of

December 2012,

in addition to a telecom network coverage of 88 percent of the population that

extends to at least 800 cities and towns,

including remote parts of the war-torn region of

Darfur.

The ITU noted a mobile phone penetration of over 60 percent at the end of 2012.

Following the 2005 Comprehensive Peace Agreement (CPA) signed between the government of

Sudan and the South Sudanese rebels, the Sudan People's Liberation Movement (SPLM), the

telecommunications industry expanded at an unprecedented rate as thousands of Sudanese

expatriates returned from the diaspora. During this time, prices for pre- and post-paid services

were cut in half, and companies began offering wireless connections to serve the growing number

of cafes and hotels.

By regional and international standards, Sudan’s telecommunications infrastructure is among the

most developed and affordable, with Sudan recording the lowest average post-paid rate per minute

in the Middle East and North Africa in 2012.

There are four licensed telecommunications

operators in Sudan: Zain, MTN, Sudatel—which provide both internet and mobile phone

International Telecommunication Union, “Percentage of Individuals Using the Internet, 2000‐2012,”

http://www.itu.int/en/ITU‐D/Statistics/Pages/stat/default.aspx.

Founded in 1996, the NTC regulates the telecommunications industry in Sudan, give licenses to telecommunications operators

as well as protects the national security of the state, among other duties.

“Mobile cellular subscriptions 2012,” Statistics data, National Telecommunications Corporation, last modified May 6, 2013,

http://www.ntc.gov.sd/images/stories/docs/English/mobile_cellular_subscription.pdf.

“Economic Impact of Mobile Communications in Sudan.”

“Telecom Networks Coverage,” Statistics data, National Telecommunications Corporation, last modified May 6, 2013,

http://www.ntc.gov.sd/images/stories/docs/English/coverage.pdf.

International Telecommunication Union, “Mobile‐Cellular Telephone Subscriptions, 2000‐2012.”

Interview with individuals in the telecommunications industry in Khartoum, Sudan, January 7‐25, 2012.

Mohamed Salam, “Sudan Tops MENA Region on Mobile Services Sales Tax,” IT News Africa, October 3, 2012,

http://www.itnewsafrica.com/2012/10/sudan‐tops‐mena‐region‐on‐mobile‐services‐sales‐tax.

BSTACLES TO

CCESS

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services—and Canar, which provides fixed phone lines and home internet.

MTN and Sudatel both

offer broadband internet, with Sudatel being the first to introduce 3.75G technology.

Zain also

offers fast internet through its USB and mobile phone internet services, though along with MTN, it

leases its access to the international internet from Sudatel and Canar. Zain, MTN, and Canar are

foreign-owned companies,

while Sudatel has 22 percent of its shares owned by the government.

Telecommunication companies began providing affordable mobile phone internet services in 2010,

which allowed a growing number of citizens, especially students, to browse the internet from their

mobile devices and led to a marked increase in the use of social media websites such as Facebook.

As of January 2013, a monthly subscription on the Sudani network costs SDG 9 ($1.50) for 1 GB,

while unlimited monthly internet costs SDG 15 ($2.50) and SDG 21 ($3.50) on MTN and Zain,

respectively.

The three companies also offer daily unlimited internet for rates that do not exceed

SDG 1 ($0.16).

Aside from mobile internet, users also access the internet from personal desktops that cost between

$71 and $100, or from laptop computers that start at $110 for a brand-new device. Second-hand

laptops and computers are widely available, and users can make payments towards a computer in

weekly or monthly installments. Internet access is enabled through a high-speed internet USB

modem, which costs $11 on the Zain network, while 5 GB of data per month costs $4.50. The

Sudani network gives its subscribers free internet USB sticks upon the purchase of internet packages

ranging from three months (at $21) to one year (at $78).

Nevertheless, there were less than

25,000 fixed broadband subscriptions at the end of 2012, representing 0.05 percent of the

population, according to the ITU.

Cybercafes, which are concentrated in market areas, charge an

average of $0.30 per hour,

though the number of cybercafes in Khartoum state has decreased

noticeably since the early 2000s as the internet has become cheaper and more accessible to the

public.

The availability of fast internet in Sudan is largely a result of competition between the four main

telecommunications companies. Under normal circumstances, the internet is relatively fast,

operating at advertised speeds of up to 21Mbps on the Zain network in Khartoum and at 7.2Mbps

in other areas. However, during the antigovernment protests in June and July 2012, there were

reports of extremely slow internet speeds before it became completely inaccessible to users on the

Zain and Sudani networks for a number of hours before the June 29th protests, according to some

Interview with an expert from the telecommunications industry in Khartoum, Sudan, January 17, 2013.

“Background,” Sudani Company, accessed January 2013, http://sudani.sd/PublicOne/Content/Sudani/Background.

The majority shareholders are Kuwaiti for Zain, South African for MTN, and Emirates for Canar. See: “Economic Impact of

Mobile Communications in Sudan.”

OpenNet Initiative, “Internet Filtering in Sudan,” August 7, 2009,

https://opennet.net/sites/opennet.net/files/ONI_Sudan_2009.pdf.

Based on calls made to customer care centers for the three telecommunications networks in Khartoum, Sudan, January 7‐10,

2013.

Calls made to customer care centers.

International Telecommunication Union, “Fixed (Wired)‐Broadband Subscriptions, 2000‐2012.”

Research conducted in January 2013.

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independent reports.

It remains unconfirmed whether the service disruptions were due to

intentional government interference or technical issues, though the disruptions prompted

immediate fears among activists that the authorities would follow Mubarak’s lead in Egypt and shut

down the internet altogether.

Most recently in June 2013, and again in September 2013 (after this

report’s coverage period), the internet intelligence corporation Renesys confirmed two separate

internet blackouts that were reportedly directed by the government in advance of large protests

(see “Editor’s Note on Recent Developments”).

While access to the internet is gradually expanding in Sudan, comprehensive economic sanctions

imposed by the U.S. government against the al-Bashir regime since 1997 have been a hindrance to

the free access of various ICTs and new media tools.

In 2010, the sanctions were amended to

authorize the export of certain communications technologies to boost the free-flow of

information,

though as of 2013, the amended sanctions remain ineffective for most Sudanese in

many respects. For example, important software such as anti-virus suites, e-document readers, and

rich-content multimedia applications are blocked and inaccessible for users to download.

Additionally, software security updates are unavailable, forcing users to rely on outdated versions

that make their computers and devices vulnerable to malware and other technical attacks.

Smartphones and tablets are also affected, as online stores where users can download and update

applications are inaccessible in Sudan. Savvy users use circumvention tools such as proxies and

virtual private networks (VPNs) to access these blocked services, but ordinary users likely miss out

on these key ICT tools. This problem of accessibility poses a serious security threat to activists and

human rights defenders, making them unable to use these technologies in their work and

potentially exposing them to state surveillance and censorship (see “Violations of User Rights”).

The NTC regulates the ICT sector in Sudan. Founded in 1996 and housed under the Ministry of

Telecommunications, the government body produces telecommunications statistics, monitors the

use of the internet, introduces new technology into the country, and seeks to develop the country’s

telecommunications and IT industry. Although it is a state body, the NTC receives grants from

international organizations such as the Intergovernmental Authority on Development and the

World Bank, and its website describes the body as “self-financing.”

Personal experience of a Freedom House consultant based in Khartoum. See also: Amira Al Hussaini, “Sudan: Netizens Verify

Internet Blackout Rumours,” Global Voices, June 22, 2012,http://globalvoicesonline.org/2012/06/22/sudan‐netizens‐verify‐

internet‐blackout‐rumours/.

Melody Zhang, “Internet Blackout in Sudan?” OpenNet Initiative (blog), June 27, 2012,

https://opennet.net/blog/2012/06/internet‐blackout‐sudan.

Andrea Peterson, “Sudan loses Internet access – and it look like the government is behind it,” Washington Post, September

25, 2013, http://www.washingtonpost.com/blogs/the‐switch/wp/2013/09/25/sudan‐loses‐internet‐access‐and‐it‐looks‐like‐

the‐government‐is‐behind‐it/.

“What you Need to Know About U.S. Sanctions—Sudan,” U.S. Department of the Treasury, June 25, 2008,

http://www.treasury.gov/resource‐center/sanctions/Programs/Documents/sudan.pdf.

“Treasury Department Issues New General License to Boost Internet‐Based Communication, Free Flow of Information in Iran,

Sudan and Cuba,” U.S. Department of the Treasury, press release, March 8, 2010, http://www.treasury.gov/press‐center/press‐

releases/Pages/tg577.aspx.

“Annual Budgets,” The National Telecommunications Council, October 16, 2010,

http://www.ntc.gov.sd/index.php?n=b3B0aW9uPWNvbV9jb250ZW50JnZpZXc9YXJ0aWNsZSZpZD04Jkl0ZW1pZD0xNjYmbGFuZz

11aw.

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In response to the nationwide “Sudan Revolts” protests in June 2012, the government blocked three

news websites and amped up its use of the Cyber Jihadist Unit to target key protest participants and

manipulate the online information landscape. YouTube was unilaterally blocked for a period

following the viral spread of an offensive anti-Islam video in September 2012.

The 2001 National Strategy for Building the Information Industry explicitly acknowledges the

blocking and filtering of internet content considered “immoral” and “blasphemous.” The NTC is

relatively transparent about the content it blocks, reporting that 95 percent of blocked material is

related to pornography.

Tests last conducted by the OpenNet Initiative in 2009 confirmed that

websites with “sexually explicit” content were blocked, in addition to some dating and hacking

websites and those that facilitated anonymous browsing or circumvention.

Social media websites such as Facebook and Twitter are not blocked, though Sudan has blocked

YouTube and the popular Sudanese forum and news website Sudanese Online for various periods

since 2008 in response to content deemed too sensitive by the regime, such as articles on the war in

Darfur.

The blocks typically range from a few days to a few weeks, and when a website becomes

accessible again, it can take some time for content to be fully restored. The most sustained and

long-term blocking of websites followed the June-July 2012 “Sudan Revolts” protest movement.

On June 25, 2012, the NTC blocked the online newspapers Sudanese Online, Al-Rakoba, and

Hurriyat,

the latter two of which are known to be anti-government. Hurriyat is based in Kampala,

Uganda and its editorial staff is comprised of prominent journalists who left Sudan after enduring

numerous court trials for their writings. Al-Rakoba, on the other hand, has a number of anonymous

journalists inside Sudan but is managed by a group based in the Gulf region.

As of April 2013,

only Al-Rakoba has been unblocked, while Hurriyat and Sudanese Online remain blocked and

accessible only through anonymous browsing programs such as Tor. From some connections,

adding an “s” to the “http” component of a blocked URL to access it via the secure https protocol

can open the website.

In mid-September 2012, the NTC blocked the entire YouTube platform following the viral spread

of the “Innocence of Muslims” video that instigated protests in Sudan and across the Muslim

world,

though the website was still accessible using https. Two days before YouTube was banned,

protests against the film took place in front of the U.S. and German embassies in Khartoum,

“Blocking Or Unblock Websites,” National Telecommunications Corporation, last modified May 6, 2013,

http://www.ntc.gov.sd/index.php?n=b3B0aW9uPWNvbV9ja2Zvcm1zJnZpZXc9Y2tmb3JtcyZpZD0xJkl0ZW1pZD0xMjkmbGFuZz11

aw%3D%3D.

OpenNet Initiative, “Internet Filtering in Sudan.”

Eva Galperin, “Sudan Revolts, Government Cracks Down on Dissent,” Electronic Frontier Foundation, July 10, 2012,

https://www.eff.org/deeplinks/2012/07/sudan‐revolts‐government‐cracks‐down‐dissent.

Interview with journalist affiliated with Al‐Rakoba in Khartoum, Sudan, January 20, 2013.

“Sudan Blocks YouTube Over Anti‐Islam Film – Sources,” Sudan Tribune, September 17, 2012,

http://www.sudantribune.com/spip.php?article43916.

IMITS ON

ONTENT

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leading to the deaths of two protesters following clashes with the police.

The platform was

unblocked in November 2012 and remains so as of May 2013.

The Internet Service Control Unit within the NTC manages the filtering of online content, and

users can submit requests through the NTC website to either block or unblock websites “that are

deemed not containing pornography.”

Nevertheless, the NTC does not specify whether the

requests to block or unblock extend to political websites. Users attempting to access a blocked site

are met with a black page that explicitly states, “This site has been blocked,” by the NTC and

includes a contact e-mail address at filtering@ntc.gov.sd.

As a result of growing online censorship, some opposition news outlets have begun to move their

servers outside the country to avoid blocking. For example, Sudanese Online currently operates from

the United States, while Sudan Tribune is based out of France and Al Taghyeer (“Change”), a new

online newspaper launched on May 3, 2013 on World Press Freedom Day, is based in the United

Kingdom.

This trend will likely continue if a draft media law with implications for digital news is

passed (see “Violations of User Rights”).

Despite increasing instances of internet censorship in 2012, online newspapers have had more

freedom than traditional media outlets, which are frequently subject to pre-publication censorship,

confiscations of entire press runs of newspapers, and warnings from National Intelligence and

Security Service (NISS) agents against reporting on certain taboo topics.

Restrictions on

traditional news outlets increased following the National Security Act of 2010, which gives the

NISS permission to arrest journalists and censor newspapers under the pretext of “national

security.”

As such, many print newspapers have begun to circulate censored or banned material

on their websites and social media pages. For example, Al-Midan newspaper, the mouthpiece of the

communist party, has used Facebook and its website to publish articles since May 2012. Al-Jareeda

also uses its Facebook page to publish censored material. Nevertheless, the authorities have begun

to crackdown against such forms of online journalism. At the end of 2012, one Al-Jareeda journalist

reported that he was threatened by the NISS to prevent him from publishing an interview with a

young politician on the newspaper’s Facebook page after it was censored from the print version.

In response to the Arab Spring events and the proliferation of anti-government protest movements

organized on social media sites in early 2011, the ruling National Congress Party launched a Cyber

“Sudan Protesters Storm German Embassy, Raise Islamic Flag,” Reuters, September 14, 2012,

https://www.nydailynews.com/news/world/sudan‐protesters‐storm‐german‐embassy‐raise‐islamic‐flag‐article‐1.1159566.

“Blocking Or Unblock Websites.”

Image of a blocked site: https://docs.google.com/file/d/0B6mgwvplJ6IadERXT3RTZW1jSkk/edit.

Reem Abbas, “Sudan’s Shift from Print to Online Newspapers,” Doha Centre for Media Freedom, May 16, 2013,

http://www.dc4mf.org/en/node/3740.

Interview with an editor‐in‐chief in Khartoum, Sudan, August 2012.

The NISS carries out arbitrary arrests, may detain an individual for up to 45 days without charges and can renew the

detention period after the end of the 45‐day period. NISS officers have total immunity from the law. “Sudanese Security Service

Carries out Brutal Campaign Against Opponents,” Amnesty International, July 19, 2010, http://www.amnesty.org/en/news‐and‐

updates/report/sudanese‐security‐service‐carries‐out‐brutal‐campaign‐against‐opponents‐2010.

Interview with an activist, October 2012, Khartoum, Sudan.

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Jihadist Unit to conduct “online defense operations” and “crush online dissent.”

While the cyber

jihadists existed on a smaller scale before 2011, the government began expanding the unit when it

realized the powerful capacity of social media and online journalism to disseminate information,

communicate events to the international community, and mobilize protests.

In 2011, a leaked document revealed that the Cyber Jihadist Unit employed over 200 individuals

divided across different locations and who worked three shifts to ensure around the clock coverage,

particularly during timeframes when internet traffic is highest, such as late at night and during the

weekend.

More recent research found that the number of recruits increased in 2012, with the

NISS recruiting heavily at government universities, especially at the police-owned Al-Ribat

University.

The Unit seems to have adequate funding for training, and stipends are given to the

young recruits who are mostly students or unemployed youth. According to private interviews, the

cyber-jihadists have also received training courses in hacking and online monitoring in India and

Malaysia, among other countries.

Based at the NISS, the Cyber Jihadist Unit proactively monitors content posted on blogs, social

media websites, and online newspaper forums. The Unit also infiltrates online discussions in an

effort to ascertain information about cyber-dissidents as well as spread misinformation. This

strategy has been employed most prominently on the news forum, Sudanese Online, which is known

for its popularity among antigovernment intellectuals, journalists, politicians and activists. When

the government took notice of the website’s influence in the mid-2000s, it planted contributors to

spread misinformation, instigate problems between users, and discredit information written by

members of the forum.

In August 2012, a few weeks after a massive security crackdown subdued the wave of protests

across the country, an exiled activist started a thread on Sudanese Online titled, “Accounts Targeted

and Monitored by the Cyber-Jihad Unit,” that included a list of 274 names, Facebook pages and

groups and described the expanded technical capacities of the unit. Leaked to the exiled activist by

“a trusted source,”

the list made evident that the unit’s primary targets were online activists,

particularly young people, whose social media accounts publish timely information about the

protests and news about human rights violations.

Also included on the list were Facebook groups

of university protest and social movements, such as the “University is Free and the Soldiers should

Leave” group, and of youth movements such as Girifna (“We are fed up”), Sharara, and Sudan

Change Now. One of the individuals targeted was Mohamed Hassan Alem (known as Boshi), who

became popular after a video of him mocking a ruling party official went viral on YouTube in late

E‐mail interview with editors from Hurriyat and Al‐Rakoba, January 2013; “Sudan to Unleash Cyber Jihadists,” BBC News,

March 23, 2011, http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/technology‐12829808.

“With the NCP's Documents: Operation Electronic Defense to Bring Down the Sudanese Revolution” [in Arabic], Sudan

Motion, April 14, 2012, http://sudanmotion.com/index.php/news/3‐sudan‐news/4143‐2012‐04‐14‐10‐30‐28.

Interview with telecommunications expert in Khartoum, Sudan, January 15, 2013.

Interview with a press freedom advocate and journalist in Khartoum, Sudan, January 16, 2012.

Bukhari Osman, “Accounts Targeted by Cyber Jihad Unit” [in Arabic], August 23, 2012, Sudanese Online,

http://www.sudaneseonline.com/cgi‐bin/sdb/2bb.cgi?seq=print&board=400&msg=1345716699&rn=1

For example, the first name mentioned in the list was Amani Al‐Agab, a well‐known online activist who is very active on

Sudanese forums as well as Facebook. There is little information available on Amani Al‐Agab; however, it is known that she is

outside Sudan. http://www.change.org/users/7806131

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2011, leading to his arrest.

Najla Al-Sheikh, a popular Sudanese video-blogger and human rights

documentarian whose YouTube page has nearly one million views,

and Wail Taha, a former

editor of the online newspaper, Hurriyat, were also listed.

In 2012, the authorities began to employ social media tools to discredit and spread misinformation

about the opposition, launching smear campaigns against activists such as Rudwan Dawod, a

Darfurian humanitarian aid worker who was arrested in July 2012 during a non-violent

demonstration. Two days after his arrest, a Facebook page was created accusing Dawod of being a

part of a terrorist circle that was preparing to bomb Khartoum.

With the growing popularity of forums such as Sudanese Online in the mid-2000s, citizens, especially

young people, began creating their own blogs to voice their opinions, leading to considerable

growth of the blogosphere over the past couple of years. The more active Sudanese bloggers write

in the English language. As of early 2013, there were about 300 Sudanese blogs registered in the

newly established Sudanese Bloggers Network,

compared to approximately 70 blogs in October

2011.

Blogging has also become an important platform for journalists and writers who use it to publish

commentary that is free from the restrictions leveled on newspapers, and to publicize their books.

For example, the well-known Sudanese writer Abdul-Aziz Baraka Sakin uses his blog to publish

sections of his books for preview by the public and to distribute his books that are currently

banned.

Blogs have also given ethnic, gender, and religious minorities a venue to express themselves. In

2007, a blogger known as “Black-Gay-Arab” appeared in the Sudanese blogosphere, taking many by

surprise in a country where homosexuality is punished by the death penalty.

Documenting his life

as a gay man in a conservative society and chronicling his family’s attitude toward his sexuality, the

blog eventually enabled its author and other Sudanese LGBT people to establish a website that

became an association for the Sudanese LGBT community called Freedom Sudan.

Another

blogger, Osman Naway from the Nuba minority ethnic group, uses his blog to spread awareness

“Sudanese Activist Arrested Days After Heckling Ruling Party Official,” Sudan Tribune, January 1, 2012,

http://www.sudantribune.com/Sudanese‐activist‐arrested‐days,41152.

Nagla Elshakh’s YouTube page, accessed May 24, 2013, http://www.youtube.com/user/naglaseed.

Timeline photo on Facebook page of “Sudan.E.Army, posted July 4, 2012,

https://www.facebook.com/photo.php?fbid=340853672655563&set=a.194049490669316.46463.194019520672313&type=1&

relevant_count=1; John Zogby, “Sudanese Activist Charged With Terrorism,” On the Ground (blog), New York Times, July 11,

2012, http://kristof.blogs.nytimes.com/2012/07/11/sudanese‐activist‐charged‐with‐terrorism/.

Interview with the Sudanese Bloggers Network, January 23, 2013, http://sdunlimitedbloggers.blogspot.com/.

Amir Ahmad Nasr, “Sudanese Bloggers,” Sudanese Thinker (blog), March 26, 2009,

http://www.sudanesethinker.com/sudanese‐bloggers/.

Abdul‐Aziz Baraka Sakin is one of Sudan's most prolific writers. He is a novelist and short story writer who has published over

six books and is also a campaigner for children’s rights. He blogs at http://barakasakin.blogspot.com. See, Reem Abbas,

“Comment is Free,” Guardian, October 26, 2012, http://www.guardian.co.uk/commentisfree/2012/oct/26/secret‐reading‐

sudan‐banning‐books.

Blackgayarab ‐ Gay and Proud (blog): http://black‐gay‐arab.blogspot.com/

Freedom Sudan: The Sudanese LGBT Association: http://freedomsudan.webs.com/

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about the persecution of citizens from the Nuba Mountains and to document the recently reignited

war in the region.

During the summer 2012 student protests against the government’s harsh economic austerity plan,

social media and e-mail became the primary tools used to mobilize, share information, and

communicate as mobile phones became increasingly unsafe to use. According to youth activists,

most communications between the protesters during that time were conducted through Whats

App, a free mobile messaging application that can be accessed via mobile internet. The mobile app

was considered a much safer mode of communication than phone calls or text messages, which the

authorities could tap or track.

Nevertheless, an overwhelming number of activists interviewed for

this report revealed a low awareness of digital security and limited knowledge of ways to stay

digitally safe, such as how to delete a Skype conversation.

Meanwhile, digital media activism enabled the protests to spread from its starting point in

Khartoum to numerous cities around the country,

gathering between hundreds and thousands of

demonstrators to voice opposition against growing economic hardships in Sudan. Despite the

effective use of digital media tools in mobilizing the widespread demonstrations, the government

was ultimately successful in suppressing the movement through its violent crackdown against the

protesters, journalists, and online activists. Consequently, the protest movement resulted in no

concrete changes to the government’s austerity plans.

Nevertheless, the internet continues to grow as a powerful tool for activists to fight for social,

political, and economic change. In one prominent case, an online campaign helped lead to the

eventual release of Jalila Khamis, an activist who spent nine months in detention without charge

until December 13, 2012, when an online campaign mobilized a silent protest in front of the

Women’s Prison in Omdurman where she was being held, and she was produced in court. The

campaign also informed many individuals, both inside and outside Sudan, of Khamis’ case and made

her trials a public event, with dozens of attendees waiting outside the courtroom at each trial and

posting real-time updates of the trial proceedings on social media.

Khamis was finally released and

acquitted of all charges on January 20, 2013 (see “Violations of User Rights”).

Another significant case of digital media activism erupted in early 2011 and continued through 2012

following the arrest and sexual assault of Girifna activist, Safia Ishaq, in January 2011. After her

release, Girifna circulated a YouTube video in which Ishaq detailed the gang-rape she endured at

the hands of three NISS agents while in detention, making her the first Sudanese woman to speak

Osman Naway is a human rights activist and blogger from the Nuba Mountains in Southern Kordofan state. He is affiliated

with Arry Organization for Human rights (http://arry.org/),which was closed by the Sudanese government in December 2012.

Interviews with youth activists.

Ismai’il Kushkush, “Protesters and the Police Clash in Sudan,” New York Times, July 6, 2012,

https://www.nytimes.com/2012/07/07/world/africa/in‐sudan‐protesters‐clash‐with‐the‐riot‐police.html?_r=0.

Interview with cyber‐activist in Khartoum, Sudan, January 20, 2013.

Amnesty International, “Sudan Releases Prisoner of Conscience,” press release, January 20, 2013,

http://www.amnesty.org/en/for‐media/press‐releases/sudan‐releases‐prisoner‐conscience‐2013‐01‐20.

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publicly about sexual assault perpetrated by the authorities.

Her YouTube testimony led to a viral

online campaign that helped the coalition, “No to Women’s Oppression,” mobilize public protests

against the frequent cases of sexual assault experienced by Sudanese women, especially those who

have voiced public opinion against the government.

Nevertheless, the NISS took numerous journalists to trial for writing about the Ishaq case in local

newspapers under charges of “publishing false information” and “jeopardizing the trust between the

public and security forces.”

The trials of those journalists also received significant public attention,

and activists used Facebook and Twitter to mobilize a public presence at the court hearings. As of

April 2013, Ishaq’s case is still being heard at a regional African court,

though the government

maintains its denial of the incident. Ishaq eventually fled Sudan due to increasing harassment.

A draft media law was proposed in December 2012 that aims to further restrict media freedom in

Sudan; it is also likely to include provisions to regulate online media. Numerous bloggers and

online journalists were arrested or harassed for their involvement with the June 2012 protests,

while a number of activists were prosecuted for their coverage of the conflict areas in Southern

Kordofan and the Nuba Mountains. An online journalist was also tortured in 2012 for her social

activism.

Freedom of speech, expression and association are nominally protected under the 2005 Interim

National Constitution that was adopted as part of the 2005 Comprehensive Peace Agreement

(CPA) between the government of Sudan and the Southern rebel group, though the constitution

officially expired following the independence of South Sudan in July 2011. A permanent

constitution is currently being drafted as of May 2013.

In 2007, Sudan enacted the Informatic Offences (Combating) Act (known as the IT Crime Act),

which does not guarantee free speech and criminalizes the establishment of websites that criticize

the government, in addition to websites that publish defamatory material and content that disturbs

public morality or public order.

Violations of the IT Crime Act involve fines and prison sentences

between two to five years. While only one case of defamation has been filed under the IT Crime

Maha El‐Sanosi, “The Violation of Women’s Rights in Sudan: In the Name of the Law?” Afrika, April 6, 2012,

http://www.afrika.no/Detailed/21360.html.

Amel Gorani, “Rape as a Tool of War,” Geopolitical Monitor, December 29, 2011, http://www.geopoliticalmonitor.com/rape‐

as‐a‐weapon‐of‐war‐4568/; “Safia Ishaq Talks,” Girifna, February, 24, 2011, http://www.girifna.com/2602.

Nahid Mohamed Al‐Hassan, trial report by Girifna (not published), October 6, 2011, Khartoum, Sudan.

The People’s Court in the Gambia.

“The Informatic Offences (Combating) Act, 2007,” National Telecommunications Corporation,

http://www.ntc.gov.sd/images/stories/docs/English/Informatics_offences_Act_2007.pdf.

Abdelgadir Mohammed Abdelgadir, “Fences of Silence: Systematic Repression of Freedom of the Press, Opinion and

Expression in Sudan,” International Press Institute, 2012, http://www.freemedia.at/fileadmin/media/Fences_of_Silence‐

AbdelgadirMAbdelgadir‐3.pdf.

IOLATIONS OF

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IGHTS

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Act since its enactment in 2007,

the Act inherently contradicts Sudan’s constitutional protection

of freedom of expression and fundamentally undermines internet freedom in the country.

For bloggers and online activists, the press and criminal laws have been more dangerous. In 2009,

the government revised the highly restrictive 2004 Press and Printed Press Materials Law, which

continued to allow for restrictions on the press in the interests of national security and public order

and holds editors-in-chief liable for all content published in their newspapers.

There is no specific

reference to online media, though the press law’s broad wording allows for its application to online

content. In December 2012, a new draft press law was presented to the national assembly that aims

to further restrict media freedom in Sudan. While the draft law has yet to be publicly released, a

member of the Sudanese National Council revealed in an interview with the Doha Centre for Media

Freedom in April 2013 that the new law would include regulations on online media.

Meanwhile,

the authorities also restrict media freedom through the 2010 National Security Act, which gives the

NISS immunity from persecution and the permission to arrest, detain and censor newspapers under

the pretext of national security.

Furthermore, Sudan’s judiciary is not independent and has taken

peremptory actions in cases of freedom of expression.

Since the Arab Spring events in 2011, journalists in Sudan have faced increasing harassment and

repression,

with at least 20 journalists and editors subjected to fines, interrogations, detentions,

jail sentences, or trials for charges ranging from defamation, publishing false information, or

undermining the constitution in 2012.

According to the Sudanese Bloggers Network, bloggers

and citizen journalists have also been increasingly harassed or detained in recent years, particularly

during times of protest.

In one notable case, the popular blogger and Twitter-user Usamah Mohamed was arrested on June

22, 2012 while covering protests in the Burri neighborhood of Khartoum.

As one of the most

prominent bloggers using the Twitter hashtag #SudanRevolts to live-tweet the events of the

protest, Usamah was detained along with his brother for documenting the arrest of other protestors

on Twitter and for posting a video on Al-Jazeera of himself explaining his reasons for taking part in

Interview with a press freedom advocate in Khartoum, Sudan, January 16, 2012.

Committee to Protect Journalists, “Repressive press law passed in Sudan,” press release, June 11, 2009,

http://www.cpj.org/2009/06/repressive‐press‐law‐passed‐in‐sudan.php.

Reem Abbas, “Proposed Sudan Media Law Targets Press Freedom,” Al‐Monitor, January 17, 2013, http://www.al‐

monitor.com/pulse/originals/2013/01/sudan‐press‐freedom.html#ixzz2OY2WyeL3; Ahmed Vall, “‘New Law Will Grant Greater

Media Freedom in Sudan,’” Doha Centre for Media Freedom, April 7, 203, http://www.dc4mf.org/en/content/new‐law‐will‐

grant‐greater‐media‐freedom‐sudan.

“Sudanese Security Service Carries Out Brutal Campaign Against Opponents,” Amnesty International, July 19, 2010,

http://www.amnesty.org/en/news‐and‐updates/report/sudanese‐security‐service‐carries‐out‐brutal‐campaign‐against‐

opponents‐2010.

“Journalists Face Increasing Harassment in Sudan,” Amnesty International, May 3, 2012,

http://www.amnesty.org/en/news/journalists‐face‐increasing‐harassment‐sudan‐2012‐05‐02.

Journalists are Amel Habbani, Nahid Al‐Hassan, Faisal Mohamed Salih, Omer Al‐Garrai, Saad Al‐Deen Ibrahim, Fatima

Ghazzali, Faiz Al‐Seleik, Abdullah Al‐Sheikh, Mohamed Lateif, Zeinab Mohamed Salih, Gafaar Al‐Subki and Hassan Ishaq, among

others.

Interview with Sudanese Bloggers Network, January 23, 2013.

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