Human rights defender Abubakr Mansour Abdela sentenced to death by hanging

On 5 October 2025, the Singa Criminal Court sentenced Sudanese lawyer and human rights defender Abubakr Mansour Abdela to death by hanging, without providing any public explanation for the decision. The human rights defender was accused of collaborating with the paramilitary group, the Rapid Support Forces (RSF), and convicted of offences against the State and waging war against the State under the Sudan Criminal Act 1991.

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Abubakr Mansour Abdela is a Sudanese lawyer and human rights defender who provides legal assistance and support to his community. After the eruption of war in Sudan in 2023, he stayed in his home town and provided humanitarian support by distributing free medicine from his brother’s pharmaceutical company. Throughout his career, Abubakr Mansour Abdela has been peacefully resisting the Islamic Movement and opposing the war in Sudan.

On 5 October 2025, the Singa Criminal Court sentenced Sudanese lawyer and human rights defender Abubakr Mansour Abdela to death by hanging, without providing any public explanation for the decision. The human rights defender was accused of collaborating with the paramilitary group, the RSF, and convicted of offences against the State and waging war against the State under Articles 50 and 51 of the Sudan Criminal Act 1991 in what appears to be politically motivated retaliation for his human rights work. According to the facts and testimonies presented during court proceedings, the ruling has raised fundamental legal concerns regarding the integrity of the procedures, the evaluation of evidence, and the adherence to the standards of fair trial as stipulated in Sudanese and international law. Four days prior to the announcement of the verdict, on 1 October 2025, the authorities also arrested and detained the human rights defender’s lawyer, Abubakr Elmahi.

The sentencing of Abubakr Mansour Abdela follows an earlier decision against the human rights defender by the Singa General Court on 30 April 2025, which imposed a 20-year prison sentence and a fine of 10 million Sudanese pounds. His legal team rejected the Court’s verdict and filed an appeal.

Since the outbreak of war in Sudan in April 2023, human rights lawyers have been among those most targeted by both the RSF and the Sudanese Armed Forces (SAF), including cases of arbitrary detentions, enforced disappearances, torture, and killings. Front Line Defenders has previously condemned the killings of Darfur Bar Association members Mohammed Ahmed Kudia, Khamis Arabab, Tareg Hassan Yagoub Elmalik and El Sadeg Mohammed Ahmed Haroun as the organisation believes that they were targeted as a result of their human rights work.

Front Line Defenders condemns the judicial persecution of Abubakr Mansour Abdela and, in particular, the death sentence issued against him, which it believes to have been imposed solely as a result of his peaceful human rights work. The organisation believes that the verdict contradicts the established legal principles of a fair trial and must be subject to review through the appropriate judicial channels.

Front Line Defenders urges the authorities in Sudan to:

1. Immediately revoke the death sentence imposed on human rights defender Abubakr Mansour Abdela, release him unconditionally, and ensure that all charges related to his legitimate human rights work are dropped;
2. Ensure that the conditions of Abubakr Mansour Abdela’s detention fully comply with international human rights standards, in particular the Body of Principles for the Protection of All Persons under Any Form of Detention or Imprisonment;
3. Guarantee in all circumstances that all human rights defenders in Sudan are able to carry out their peaceful and legitimate human rights activities without fear of reprisals and free from arbitrary detention, judicial harassment, or any other form of intimidation or obstruction.