Dr Mudawi Ibrahim is one of the best known human rights defenders in the world, recognized for his long career in defending rights in Sudan and exposing violations in Darfur.
In 2005 Human Rights First made this short film celebrating his work.
Regularly in and out of jail for his human rights work he was arrested again on December 7 2016, with his driver Adam Elsheikh, and is being held at the Kober prison. No date has been set for his trial, and he has been denied access to a lawyer.
Former inmates report having seen him being beaten after he went on hunger strike.
When his family visited him a few days ago they found him “in bad shape, thin and fragile, with his health deteriorating”.
The government closed down his organization, the Sudan Social Development Organization (SUDO), in 2009, but his human rights work has continued. The United States government eased sanctions on Sudan last month, citing co-operation on counter-terrorism. Washington should now use its relationship with the Sudanese government press for an end to the targeting of human rights defenders, and for Mudawi’s immediate release.
