KHARTOUM, Sudan: A Sudanese woman facing 40 lashes for wearing trousers in public made her first appearance in a court packed with supporters on Wednesday, in what her lawyer described as a test case in Sudan’s decency laws. There were chaotic scenes as Lubna Hussein, a former journalist who works for the United Nations, attended the hearing wearing the same green slacks that got her arrested for immodest dress.
Indecency cases are not uncommon in Sudan. But Hussein has attracted attention by publicizing her case, inviting journalists to hearings and using it to campaign against dress codes sporadically imposed in the capital.
The case was adjourned on Wednesday as lawyers discussed whether her status as a UN employee gave her the protection of legal immunity.
After the hearing, defense lawyer Nabil Adib Abdullah said Hussein had agreed to resign from the United Nations in time for the next session on August 4 to make sure the case continued.
“First of all she wants to show she is totally innocent, and using her immunity will not prove that,” Abdullah told reporters. “Second she wants to fight the law. The law is too wide. It needs to be reformed. This is turning into a test case. Human-rights groups will be watching this closely.” He said Hussein was ready to face the maximum penalty for the criminal offense of wearing indecent dress in public which was 40 lashes and an unlimited fine.
Before the hearing Hussein told Reuters she was arrested in early July when police raided a party she was attending at a restaurant in Khartoum’s Riyadh district.
“Thousands of women are punished with lashes in Sudan but they stay silent,” she said. “The law is being used to harass women and I want to expose this.” She said a number of other women arrested with her received lashes. But her case was sent for trial when she called in a lawyer.
Journalists scuffled with police armed with batons outside the court room on Wednesday and some reporters, who were briefly detained, had tapes and equipment confiscated.
Scores of women, some wearing slacks and jeans, attended the case. Some waved small placards with the slogan “Lashing people is against human rights.” The trial was also attended by representatives of the embassies of France, Canada, Sweden and Spain, alongside politicians and members of the Sudanese Women’s Union.
Yassir Arman, a senior member of the Sudan People’s Liberation Movement (SPLM), the dominant party in southern Sudan, said he had brought up the case with the US envoy to Sudan Scott Gration on his recent visit.
“The SPLM is calling for this law to be repealed,” he told Reuters. “It humiliates both Christian and Muslim women.” Northern Sudan is governwed by Islamic law which includes restrictions on public decency, particularly for women.
But the regulations are only sporadically enforced in Khartoum – while most women wear traditional dress in public, some, particularly from the mostly Christian south, also wear slacks and more Western clothes.
It is also rare for a Sudanese woman to take such a public stance on her rights to defy the dress code.
Lashing is handed out as a punishment for a range of offenses in Sudan, including brewing alcohol.
UN ENVOY CALLS FOR DEFUSING CHAD-SUDAN TENSIONS
Edith M. Lederer
Associated Press
UNITED NATIONS: A senior UN envoy called Tuesday for efforts to reduce tensions between Chad and Sudan and to tackle increasing insecurity in the neighboring Central African Republic in order to stabilize the volatile African region.
Eastern Chad and northeastern Central African Republic have been seriously affected by fighting across the border in Sudan’s Darfur region, and UN special representative Victor Angelo told the Security Council that the security situation had worsened in recent months.
An attack by Chadian opposition fighters based in Sudan who crossed the border on May 4 and were repelled by the Chadian army led to “a very serious deterioration” of relations between the two countries, he said.
Despite statements by both governments in late May supporting efforts by Qatar to end the strains, “new tensions erupted recently.”
“There has been a proliferation of ethnically based militias, more weapons, and recently we have seen also that some of these militias have gone across the border into Darfur and looked for support,” Angelo said.
He stressed that “the relationship between Chad and Sudan has a critical impact on the situation” on both sides of the border.
“There is an urgent need to de-escalate the situation and resume diplomatic initiatives,” Angelo said, urging both sides to use the current rainy season to renew political talks.
The war in Darfur began in 2003 when rebel groups took up arms against the government, complaining of discrimination and neglect. UN officials say up to 300,000 people have died and 2.7 million have fled their homes.