Over the last several weeks, the Government of Sudan has made an effort to obstruct the engagement of civil society activists in a United Nations (UN)-led human rights review of the country. In a statement on March 31, 2016, 37 Sudanese and international organizations deemed this practice unacceptable and argued that it shows the government’s contempt not just for human rights defenders in Sudan, but for human rights standards and the UN Human Rights Council.

Four representatives of Sudanese civil society were intercepted by security officials at Khartoum International Airport on their way to a high level human rights meeting with diplomats which was to take place in Geneva on March 31.  The meeting was organized by the international NGO, UPR Info, in preparation for the Universal Periodic Review (UPR) of Sudan that will be held in May. Read the statement here.