New York, December 12, 2024—On Monday, December 8, soldiers with the paramilitary group Rapid Support Forces (RSF) killed journalist Hanan Adam, a correspondent for local Sudan Communist Party-affiliated newspaper al-Midan, and her brother, Youssef Adam, at their home in the village of Wad Al-Asha in the east-central al-Gezira state, according to statements by the Sudanese Journalists’ Union and the Sudan Communist Party.
“We are deeply shocked and outraged by Rapid Support Forces’ brutal killing of journalist Hanan Adam and her brother in al-Gezira state, which further illustrates the extreme conditions journalists and their families currently face in Sudan,” said CPJ Interim MENA Program Coordinator Yeganeh Rezaian, from Washington, D.C. “Sudanese authorities must launch an immediate and thorough investigation into Adam’s death, and all parties involved in the conflict must uphold their obligation to protect journalists who risk their lives to report the truth.”
Adam also worked at the Ministry of Culture and Information in al-Gezira state. Two journalists who spoke with CPJ on the condition of anonymity, citing fear of reprisal, said they believed the RSF targeted Adam for her work for al-Midan and the Ministry.
The Sudanese Journalists’ Union condemned the killings in its Tuesday Facebook statement and said it held the RSF fully responsible for their deaths. CPJ was unable to confirm other details about the killing.
Since the war between the Sudanese Armed Forces and the RSF began in mid-April 2023, the RSF has killed at least five journalists.
CPJ’s Telegram messages to the RSF requesting comment on Adam’s death did not receive any replies.