Dr. Mudawi Ibrahim Adam is an engineer, a prominent human rights advocate, and founder of the Sudan Social Development Organization (SUDO), a nongovernmental organization that promotes human rights and development initiatives relating to water, sanitation, and health in Sudan. He has been recognized internationally for his human rights promotion and humanitarian efforts, but repeatedly jailed for this work in Sudan. After nearly nine months in detention on spurious national security-related charges, he was among several prisoners granted a pardon by Sudanese President Omar al-Bashir on August 29, 2017.

The Sudanese National Intelligence and Security Services took Dr. Mudawi into custody on December 7, 2016, at the University of Khartoum, where he works as a professor of engineering. His arrest, along with that of dozens of opposition figures and activists, followed calls by opposition groups for a general strike in response to rising costs of living and government spending cuts. Dr. Mudawi was held incommunicado for over a month before he was allowed to meet with members of his family. In protest against his prolonged detention, Dr. Mudawi underwent two hunger strikes. Reportedly, his hands and feet were shackled, and he was placed in a “punishment cell” with poor ventilation and very hot temperatures, which exacerbated his existing health issues, in an attempt to force him to end his hunger strike. Dr. Mudawi was detained for over five months before multiple national security-related charges were brought against him, some of which could have resulted in the death penalty. No credible evidence was presented to support the charges.