Hafiz
Haron

Background and Work

Hafiz Haron works as a journalist for Al-Tayar, an independent newspaper in Sudan. His reporting centres on human rights violations in conflict-affected regions, particularly Darfur, where abuses have persisted for years with little accountability. A significant portion of his work documents police violence across Sudan, tracking cases of excessive force, unlawful detention, and impunity within security forces.

This focus on police conduct made Haron a familiar and unwelcome figure at local precincts. Officers subjected him to frequent stop-and-search operations, a form of low-level harassment that escalated dramatically in May 2021.

The Incident and Arrest

On 20 May 2021, Haron discovered a thief in his home in Khartoum Bahri. He went to the local police station to file a complaint and requested that officers detain the intruder. Police refused to log his complaint. When Haron persisted, officers arrested him and held him for approximately twelve hours.

During detention Haron was subjected to physical and verbal abuse. He sustained injuries to his neck and ear that required hospitalisation after his release. The police released him on condition that he present himself at the station again within days.

On 23 May Haron returned, this time to the administrative police station, to lodge a complaint against the officers who had beaten him. The police asked him to withdraw the complaint. When he refused, they arrested him for a second time, holding him for around six hours before releasing him on bail. On the same day they charged him with threatening the police, hindering the police, and causing public annoyance. Haron reported that a fourth charge existed but was not disclosed to him.

Legal Proceedings

The first hearing took place on 2 June 2021 before the Criminal Court of Khartoum Bahri Wasat. Two police officers appeared as witnesses for the prosecution. A second hearing followed on 16 June, at which additional police officers testified against Haron. The court scheduled a third hearing for 24 June to hear remaining witnesses and potentially deliver a verdict.

On 8 August 2021, the Criminal Court in Khartoum Bahry Wasat convicted Haron and sentenced him to one month in prison or a fine of 30,000 Sudanese pounds, approximately 58 euros at the time. Al-Tayar, the newspaper where Haron worked, paid the fine and he was released the same day. Haron stated publicly that he would challenge the conviction before the Supreme Court. The outcome of that appeal, and his situation since the war that began in April 2023, are not known.

The proceedings were marked by structural imbalance: only police officers testified as witnesses, and the undisclosed fourth charge remained unaddressed throughout the hearings. The charges themselves, threatening and hindering police, arose directly from Haron's attempt to hold officers accountable for assaulting him.

Pattern of Harassment

The case against Haron formed part of a broader pattern of harassment targeting his work as a journalist documenting police abuses. Officers subjected him to frequent stop-and-search operations both before and after the trial, a form of continuous low-level intimidation familiar to reporters covering security forces in Sudan.

The retaliation for attempting to file a complaint against police misconduct illustrates the systemic obstacles facing those who document or challenge abuses by state actors. Haron's conviction effectively criminalised his refusal to withdraw a complaint of police violence, sending a clear deterrent message to others who might consider reporting similar incidents.