How can a country celebrate International Women’s Day when every year it marks the oppression, harassment and crackdown on the freedom and rights of its women?
From the case of Lubna Hussein who stood for trial for wearing a pair of trousers, to the video of a woman being lashed in public while police officers laughed as she wailed, to the gang-rape of a young activist named Safia Ishaq by security policemen last year, to the trial of journalist Amal Habbani who wrote about Safia’s case... the women of Sudan are suffering, and I believe we're only seeing the tip of the iceberg.
This year, not only are we spending the month of IWD commemorating the anniversary of Safia’s rape, but we are also spending it mourning the death of a woman named Awadiya Ajabna who hails from the Nuba Mountains. Awadiya, who was unarmed, was shot dead in front of her house on March 7, 2012 by the Public Order Police.
A few days before that, NISS had cracked down on a human rights activist named Nazik Kabalo. NISS officers raided her house and confiscated her equipment. They called her in for an 8-hour long interrogation. They used all sorts of intimidation tactics on her and threatened to detain her until the anti-espionage bill is in effect, where she may then be subjected to the death penalty for her communications with the international community. Nazik fled the country. Her activism was directed towards IDPs from the Nuba Mountains.
Just before the Sudanese people were able to grasp the horrors of these unfortunate and subsequent incidents, another activist from the Nuba Mountains was kidnapped from her home on March 14, 2012. Jalila Khamis Koko is a teacher and an active member of SPLM-N. NISS officers raided her house at 1 am and kidnapped her in front of her son. She was wearing her night clothes and they rejected her 17-year-old son’s pleas to allow her to change or slip into a ‘toab’ to cover herself. Instead, they threatened to shoot him. Jalila was essentially arrested for her ties with Nazik Kabalo, where the two activists were working together to collect funds for IDPs from the Nuba Mountains residing in Khartoum.
Every day in Sudan women’s rights are being violated. The Public Order Law, which was formed as some kind of ‘moral’ law and has its own court, has many loopholes, particularly article 152 which mainly focuses on so-called indecent acts.
Article 152 of the Public Order Law: Obscene and Indecent Acts:
(1) Whoever does in a public place an indecent act or an act contrary to public morals or wears an obscene outfit or contrary to public morals or causing an annoyance to public feelings shall be punished with flogging which may not exceed forty lashes or with fine or with both.
(2) The act shall be contrary to public morals if it is regarded as such according to the standard of the person's religion or the custom of the country where the act takes place.
What it boils down to is that the Public Order Police reserves the right to arrest whomever they consider is committing an indecent act or is wearing indecent clothing. The law as you can see is absolutely vague and has no standards. This leaves plenty of room for police barbarism, as the officers are allowed to act as they please and use their desired methods of punishment on whomever they deem has committed an ‘indecent act’.
What an oxymoron it is that the Public Order Police (who murdered Awadiya Ajabna 10 days ago) claims to be against acts of indecency; given that Jalila Khamis was removed from her own home while dressed in something she would probably be arrested for if she had worn it in public.
The double standards of this current regime is repellent… how much longer are the NISS and Public Order Police going to target women and violate human rights? How much longer will the NCP trade with religion and commit horrible crimes in the name of Islam? Most importantly, how much longer are we going to let them?
Take action.. shed light on these atrocities. Write, blog, tweet, Facebook. Advocate for women in Sudan and raise awareness on the issues they are facing. The times of standing idly by as we watch the NCP ruin our lives are long gone. Be part of the change process.
