Sudan’s capital in December 2018( EPA )
It has been a year since the mass protests broke out in Sudan in response to the government’s decision to triple the price of bread. What began as protests against crippling economic conditions, progressed into nation-wide demonstrations against the President Omar al-Bashir and the dissolution of the National Congress Party (NCP). The uprisings consisted mainly of male students and professionals, but by the spring of 2019, the movement had become a ‘women’s revolution’.
Women were at the forefront of these protests, unearthing the political and social struggles they face in Sudan. Even when al-Bashir resigned, they did not stop pushing for change. On the 29th of November 2019, Sudan’s government decided to repeal the public order laws. The decision to repeal these laws was seen as a step forward for women’s fundamental rights in Sudan, and a victory for the pro-democracy movement.
What are the public order laws in Sudan?
Public order laws exist in most countries to lawfully regulate behaviour in the public sphere. The implication of Sudan’s Public Order Regime (POR) is that the laws are primarily exercised to govern women’s presence in public spaces. While the provisions aren’t expressed in gender-specific terms, the POR is impregnated with the conception of women as ‘problematic actors’. As a result, a majority of the aggressive raids and arrests that are carried out by the public order police target most women in Sudan.
The public order laws are the most explicit manifestations of a framework of Sudanese laws (criminal and civil, enforcement mechanisms (police and judiciary) and principles which can be said to constitute the POR in Sudan.
In a joint publication by the Strategic Initiative for Women in the Horn of Africa (SIHA) and the Redress Trust, ‘the public order laws contain a mix of criminal and moral prohibitions which blur the distinction between the entrenchment of law for public interest and the imposition of moral precepts based on religious convictions’.
The report explains that since the introduction of Sharia laws in 1983, the public order laws have been exercised in an arbitrary manner, extending the enforcement of strict moral codes. “Sudanese women are the mirror of the injustices and discriminatory nature of Sudan’s legal system” says Hala Alkarib, Regional Director of the SIHA network. The effect of these discriminatory laws not only create an atmosphere of fear and self-censorship, but expose a flawed justice system which implicate women’s rights in Sudan.
Issues with the Criminal Act 1991
One of the major issues with these laws is that they are vague and open-ended leaving them open to exploitation as a social control tool by the authorities.
For example, Article 152 of the Criminal Act 1991 grants public order police unfettered powers to determine what constitutes ‘indecent dress’. This vague provision lacks clarity as to what types of clothing could potentially lead to prosecution. It is frequently exercised to arrest women wearing trousers and those found in public without headscarves.
One case which generated publicity around the world was that of Ms. Lubna Hussein. In August 2009 she was arrested by police along with 12 other women for wearing trousers. Charged under Article 152, she refused to plead guilty. Instead, she protested against the arbitrary law enforcement and treatment she endured. As a result of the international attention received in response to her case, the original sentencing of flogging was reduced to a fine. Not only does this case concern women’s rights in Sudan, it exposes the socio-economic struggles women face when arrested as a result of the POR. According to James Copnall, a BBC reporter and Sudan analyst ‘in recent years it was common to see rich Khartoum women wearing trousers in public- while those targeted by the police were often poorer women from the marginalised areas on the periphery of the vast country’.
Similar cases have been reported on by organisations such as Amnesty International, the Enough Project, and Sudanese groups advocating for constitutional change in Sudan. Cases of Amira Osman, Meriam Ibrahim, Safiya Ishaq, and several others are used as opportunities to shed light on analogous violations of women’s rights under Sudan’s POR.
Future for women’s rights in Sudan
The several layers of the POR suggest that repealing the Public Order Law alone will not be enough to constitute a fundamental change for women’s rights in Sudan.
In a press release by Amnesty International, the repeal of the law was praised but also called on the transitional government to go further in amending other restrictive laws. Sara Abouh, a professor at Khartoum University added that the repeal of the public order law was ‘the minimum that could be done for the girls and the ladies of Sudan’. Article 152 is just one of the many articles of the Criminal Act 1991 which fail to adhere to Sudan’s obligations under international human rights law.
The government of Sudan should take proactive measures to address existing legislative and institutional discrimination which impact the daily life of all women in Sudan- in particular the poor and marginalised.
This small, yet significant change provides hope for the future of women and women’s rights in Sudan. One of the images captured during the protests in spring was of a Sudanese woman by the name of Alaa Salah. Videos and pictures of her leading chants in Khartoum became an emblem of resistance for Sudanese women. Her image was not an uncommon one, but embodied the spirit of the opposition.
Her iconic image, combined with the Sudanese women who fought for democracy against the POR have laid firm foundations from which now future women protesters can step in and centre their voices.
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