Regional rights group says two Sudanese women sentenced to death by stoning

February 13, 2026 (KHARTOUM) – Two Sudanese women have been sentenced to death by stoning by courts in Khartoum North and Er Roseires, a regional women’s rights group said on Friday.

The Strategic Initiative for Women in the Horn of Africa (SIHA) said the women were transferred to a prison in Omdurman while their cases are being appealed. In one case, the complainant has reportedly withdrawn the charges, the group said in a statement.

The sentences come amid a backdrop of civil war and what rights advocates describe as escalating institutional violence against women and girls in Sudan. SIHA argued the rulings are an extension of the 1991 Penal Code, which it said is used systematically to criminalize women, including during periods of active conflict.

“These sentences represent a continuation of patterns of criminalizing women,” the network said, noting that women have faced a surge in gender-based violence, including rape and exploitation, since the conflict began.

The rights group called for a “radical and comprehensive reform” of Sudan’s penal system and an immediate halt to laws targeting women under the guise of public morality. It urged that any future Sudanese-led political process include a transparent legal review to ensure women’s rights are protected under a democratic framework.

International human rights organizations have frequently criticized Sudan’s use of corporal and capital punishment for “moral crimes,” noting that such laws disproportionately target women and marginalized groups.