African Centre for Justice and Peace Studies ACJPS | المركز الافريقي لدراسات العدالة و السلام
(The above photo is credited to Ayen Network).
(25 October 2018) 18 October 2018 at 3:00pm, 4 policemen from the public order police department raided a car that was carrying a singer, Ms. Muna Majdi Salim. The policemen raided the car while she was waiting for the driver who had stepped out to buy water from a nearby shop in the main street of Khartoum. The policemen arrived in a car with tinted windows and with no number plates. She was taken to a public order police station located in Al-mugran neighborhood of Khartoum. A case was filed against her under Article 152 of Sudanese Criminal Act of 1991 for indecent dressing. She was interrogated about her dressing on 11 October 2018, while she was performing at a Charity party at Sparks City Hall, located in Al-Sahfa neighborhood of Khartoum. She was then shown a photo of what she was allegedly wearing on the said date as published on social media. In the photo, Ms. Muna was wearing trouser and a white long-sleeved blouse. She was released on the same day at 11:00pm.
On 21 October 2018, she appeared in public order court but the court session was postponed to an unknown date after the attorney general requested for the file from the court.
Article 152 of the Sudanese Criminal Act is one of the many Articles targeting women based on their dressing while in public which is always described as “indecent dressing”. The Article does not define “indecent dressing” and does not state who has the right to decide whether or not a person is indecently dressed.
Since 2017, the public order police started monitoring what is published on social media including photos and videos and use it against civilians either as “indecent dressing” or “indecent dancing”. The Public Order Laws existed in Sudan since 1995 and the arrest, chargers and sentences depends on the personal judgment of the police, prosecutor and the judge.
On 18 of September 2018, Dr. Attat Mustafa, director of the Social Development Fund made a statement on Article 152 of the Sudanese Criminal Act while being hosted on a television show about women’s situation in Sudan, broadcasted by Sudania 24 Television. The show was produced and also broadcasted by a German television channel, Deutsche Welle (DW TV). She stated during the show that the government of Sudan was considering cancelling Article 152 of Sudanese Criminal Act due to ongoing resistance from the different civil society organizations and actors against the Article which is considered to violate people’s privacy.
This is not the first time the Public order police have arrested and charged women for allegedly dressing indecently. In 2009, Ms Lubna Hussein, a journalist and a public information officer at the UN Mission in Sudan (UNMIS) along with 12 other girls were arrested and charged with violating public order and the basis of their charge was that they were wearing trousers. Ms. Hussein and her colleagues were arrested by the public order police from the Um Kulthoum restaurant in the Riyadh area east of Khartoum on 3 July 2009.
Among those detained with Ms. Hussein, were four others from Southern Sudan and three under the age of 18. Ten out of the 13 girls ended up receiving ten lashes and being fined 250 Sudanese pounds while the three asked for their lawyers to be present and had their cases transferred to the deputy prosecutor, according to an interview given by Ms. Hussein to the Al Arabiya news station. Two days after speaking out about her case and issuing an invitation to all political parties, journalists and ordinary people of Sudan to attend her trial, Ms. Hussein was subjected to further investigation by the attorney general who referred her case to the court. Ms. Hussein was subjected to a fine of about $200 which was paid by the Journalist association.
The Public Order Laws are state laws created by state assemblies and it’s a combination of some of the Articles of the Sudanese Criminal Code Act and Local Orders. The law aims to separate men and women while in the public but it systematically targets women based on their way of dressing and participation in Public. The law directs people on how to behave in the public based on the ideological manifesto of the regime. Their application is inconsistent and may be considered discriminatory and the punishments enforced for these crimes violate national, regional and international obligations of Sudan. The public order courts on the other hand hold summery trials.
The African Centre for Justice and Peace Studies (ACJPS) calls upon the Sudanese government for immediate dismantle of the enforcement bodies of the public order regime, cancel the public order laws all over Sudan as it contradicts with its national, regional and international obligations. ACJPS further calls on the government of Sudan to respect the privacy of the people of Sudan either physically or on social media, and also to compensate and rehabilitate victims of the public order law in Sudan since its creation.
ACJPS calls also on the Government of Sudan to:
- Uphold the right of the accused to receive a fair trial and adequate legal representation in accordance with Sudanese and international law;
- Immediately stop imposing floggings and all other forms of corporal punishment, such as stoning and amputations, and bring Sudanese laws in line with Sudan’s international law commitments to prohibit torture and cruel, inhuman or degrading treatment or punishment.
Background
As a party to the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights (ICCPR), Sudan has made a commitment to an absolute ban on torture and cruel, inhuman or degrading treatment or punishment. In 1997, the UN Human Rights Committee called for Sudan to abolish flogging, amputation, and stoning because they are incompatible with Sudan’s obligations under the ICCPR. The government of Sudan did not comply.
Sudan is also a party to the African Charter on Human and Peoples’ Rights. In the case of Doebbler v Sudan, concerning the use of flogging as a punishment in Sudan, the African Commission on Human and Peoples’ Rights ruled that: “there is no right for the government of a country to apply physical violence to individuals for offences. Such a right would be tantamount to sanctioning State sponsored torture,” contrary to article 5 of the African Charter.
Contact:
Mossaad Mohamed Ali, Executive Director, African Centre for Justice and Peace Studies ACJPS. (English, Arabic, Swedish): +46764325862
Read PDF Version Here: Sudan charges a female singer based on a social media post
