Sudan: End Lashing, Reform Public Order Rules
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For Immediate Release
Sudan: End Lashing, Reform Public Order Rules
Arrest of Women’s Rights Activists, Flogging of Woman Violate Basic Rights
(Nairobi, December 15, 2010) – The arrest of more than 60 Sudanese women’s
rights activists on December 14, 2010, for peacefully protesting the lashing of
a woman by police shows the urgent need to reform Sudan’s public order laws and
practices, Human Rights Watch said today. The system imposes illegitimate
restrictions on a range of personal behavior and public expression and
disproportionately targets women, Human Rights Watch said.
The lashing case, in a public place in Omdurman in November, garnered public
attention as it was captured on a video clip, widely circulated on the
internetand in the media.
“Sudanese authorities should be following Sudan’s own bill of rights, not
cracking down on peaceful protesters who were rightly objecting to such inhuman
and degrading treatment,” said Rona Peligal, Africa director at Human Rights
Watch.
Hundreds of men and women gathered at the Ministry of Justice on December 14 to
present a petition condemning flogging and calling for reform of public order
laws and mechanisms.
Although Sudan’s constitution protects freedom of assembly, police and security
officers violently dispersed the group, arrested more than 44 people, most of
them women, and assaulted a BBC reporter. The protesters have been released, but
many face charges of being a public nuisance and disturbing the peace.
Under Sudan’s public order system, Sudanese women face arrest and punishment of
up to 40 lashes if they violate Article 152 of the Criminal Act of 1991, which
broadly prohibits “indecent and immoral acts.” The public order police have
interpreted the law to prohibit women and girls from wearing trousers and
knee-length skirts.
Sudan’s public order system garnered widespread international attention in July
2009, when Lubna Hussein, a Sudanese journalist with the United Nations, was
arrested, along with 12 other women, for wearing trousers. She challenged her
arrest in court and campaigned for the repeal of Article 152.
Most of the offenses prohibited under Sudan’s rules relate to interactions
between men and women, dancing, choice of dress, smoking, and other personal
behavior that authorities deem improper. Although accurate statistics are not
available, the system disproportionately affects women and girls. In 2008,
public order police brought 43,000 public order charges against women in
Khartoum state alone, according a police source.
“The public order rules in Sudan are overly vague and broad, and are used to
control and punish women for innocuous behavior, such as dancing at private
parties or wearing trousers,” Peligal said. “The system is inherently
discriminatory and violates constitutionally protected freedoms of personal
expression.”
The rules also target southern Sudanese residents, most of whom are not Muslims,
for brewing alcohol, punishable by flogging. Southerners are punished for this
offense even though the constitution protects non-Muslims from being adversely
effected by Sharia law, which is a feature of northern Sudan’s legal system.
The African Commission on Human and People’s Rights has declared that flogging
violates Article 5 of the African Charter of Human and People’s Rights, which
prohibits “cruel, inhuman or degrading punishment or treatment.”
Human Rights Watch called on the Sudanese government to uphold international and
African standards, repeal the repressive morality laws, and end the practice of
lashing. It also called on the government to refrain from further arrests of
peaceful protesters, and to drop all charges against the activists arrested on
December 14.
“By penalizing women’s public expression, Sudanese authorities effectively
diminish women’s social, economic, and political participation, and infringe on
their basic rights,” Peligal said.
For more information, please contact:
In New York, Jehanne Henry (English, French): +1-212-216-1291; or
+1-917-443-2724 (mobile)
In Nairobi, Agnes Odhiambo (English):+254-20-3877508/3869621/3869622;
+254-72967-1187 (mobile); or [email protected]
In Brussels, Lotte Leicht (English, French, German, Danish): +32-2-737-1482; or
32-47-568-1708 (mobile)