In a paper they presented Tuesday at the 46th ordinary session of the African Commission on Human and people's Rights in Banjul, the Gambia, a group of Sudanese human rights activists called for an urgent reform of the public order regime in Sudan.
In the paper, entitled "Beyond Trousers: The Public Order Regime and the Human Rights of Women and Girls in Sudan", the women described the challenges facing them on a day-to-day basis in negotiating the impact of the public order regime on their personal, social, economic and professional lives.
The public order regime in Sudan is a set of laws which, in addition to dealing with matters of public security, prohibit and enforce a range of behaviour from dancing at private parties, to 'indecent dress' and intention to commit adultery.
These offences are enforced by a special police and court system with a reputation for violence and summary 'justice'.
Severe penalties, including caning and execution, are attached to these crimes.
'The experience of women with the public order regime constitutes a litany of suffering and lost opportunity,' said Hala Alkarib, the Executive Director of the organisation.
'Women from all walks of life, especially the most vulnerable and marginalised, live under daily threats of arrest and brutal punishment for ill-defined behaviour which should never be the subject of criminal law in a democratic society.
'There is a need for courage,' said Mr. Albaqir Alaffif Mukhtar, of the Alkh atim Adlan Centre for Enlightenment and Human Development (KACE), who is leading the campaign to review the repressive laws.
He said "People should know that the Public Order Law, combined with the relevant sections of the Criminal Law, contravenes not only the African Charter and the Sudanese Interim Constitution, but it also lacks cultural legitimacy.
"It is alien to the Sudanese culture and the well entrenched religious traditions.'
The paper, however, contains a series of recommendations aimed at bringing Sudanese laws in conformity with the requirements of the African Charter on Human and Peoples Rights.
As a human rights instrument, signed and ratified by the Sudan, the African Charter and its provisions form part of the Bill of Rights of the Sudanese Interim National Constitution.
Banjul - 17/11/2009
Pana
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