Question to the Foreign, Commonwealth & Development Office:

To ask Her Majesty’s Government what is their assessment of (1) the number of newspapers closed in Sudan in the last five years, (2) the number of opposition leaders or human rights activists imprisoned or detained there, and (3) the provision made for opposition parties to be able to express their views during the election period.

Whilst we do not have specific data going back five years, ongoing restrictions on press and political freedoms have seen a number of newspapers seized or closed down in Sudan. The environment so far in 2015 has been particularly concerning: on 16 February a total of 14 papers were seized in a single day. Opposition leaders and human rights activists also continue to be obstructed and detained. Officials from our Embassy in Khartoum have made representations to the Government of Sudan including most recently on the cases of Dr Amin Mekki Medani, Farouk Abu Eissa and Farah Ibrahim Mohamed al-Agar. Such actions by the Sudanese government restrict opportunities for the free expression of views in advance of the planned elections.