Lubna Hussein: 'I'm not afraid of being flogged'

[Al-khiyal]

Sudanese women flogged for wearing trousers

CAIRO, July 13, 2009 (AP) Sudanese police arrested 13 women in a raid on a cafe and flogged 10 of them in public for wearing trousers in violation of the country's strict Islamic law, one of those arrested said Monday. The 13 women were at a cafe in the capital, Khartoum, when they were detained Friday by officers from the public order police, which enforces the implementation of Sharia law in public places. The force, which is similar to the Saudi religious police, randomly enforces an alcohol ban and often scolds young men and women mingling in public. One of those arrested Friday, journalist Lubna Hussein, said she is challenging the charges, which can be punishable by up to 40 lashes. "I didn't do anything wrong," Hussein said.

Islamic Sharia law has been strictly implemented in Sudan since the ruling party came to power in a 1989 military coup. Public order cases usually involve quick summary trials with sentences carried out shortly afterward, as was the case with 10 of the women arrested Friday. They were flogged and fined 250 Sudanese pounds, or about $120. Hussein and two other women chose to go to trial. On Monday, she was summoned for questioning and now she awaits a decision from the prosecutor on when the case could go to trial. Women in northern Sudan, particularly in Khartoum, dress in traditional outfits that include a shawl over their head and shoulder. Western dress is uncommon. Still, the raid on a Khartoum cafe popular with journalists and foreigners was unusual.

Hussein's lawyer, Nabil Adeeb, said action by the public order police is often arbitrary and aims "from time to time to let people know that big brother is watching you." Hussein said she decided to speak out because flogging is a practice many women endure in silence. She even sent printed invitations to the press and public figures to attend her expected trial. "Let the people see for themselves. It is not only my issue," she said. "This is retribution to thousands of girls who are facing flogging for the last 20 years because of wearing trousers," she said. "They prefer to remain silent."

[Al-khiyal]

Who wears the trousers in Sudan?

July 15, 2009 -- When I was 14, my family and I made our way to my father's military club in Khartoum where we had been dining for years. On this occasion, we were denied entry as I was not wearing a headscarf. Upon my father's protestations that this had never happened before he was informed by staff that it was the government's new directive; all women had to wear the hijab in public and no trousers or revealing clothes were permitted. We went back to the car, fashioned an awkward headscarf for me to wear and made our way to dinner as my teenage embarrassment obliterated my appetite. This was life in the new Khartoum after the National Salvation coup in 1989. Music with "irreligious" lyrics was banned from the airwaves, open-air parties using sound systems were prohibited after 11pm (spawning what came to be known as the "overnight", where the performer was smuggled indoors to entertain the cognoscenti until the wee hours of the morning) and a strict curfew was imposed. Officious gatekeepers were positioned outside college campuses to veto female attire, and many's the time they sent a frustrated student in search of a safety pin to reunite the hems of an offending slit skirt.

Last week, several women were rounded up at a cafe in Khartoum and flogged for sporting indecent wear, namely trousers, while the remainder await trial as they had refused to plea bargain and accept a punishment of "only" 10 lashes for their sins. Until recently, sporadic raids on private parties in Sudan were not uncommon, particularly on New Year's Eve. If there was alcohol on the premises there would be hell to pay. The manner of punishment was often deliberately humiliating: head shaving, flogging or alerting the families of those appearing to be particularly cocky or affluent to inflict maximum ignominy. Over the past few years however, there has been a discernible relaxation of those draconian public decency laws. In a city allegedly under sharia law, an increasingly affluent populace, an influx of expatriates and an expansion of the United Nations mission have created a sort of bubble of restaurants, banqueting halls and other venues where women mingle with men, smoke shisha and roam hijab-free and trouser-clad.

The group of arrested women, unfortunately for the Sudanese authorities, included Lubna al-Hussein, a rather feisty female journalist and employee of the UN who appears to be spearheading a campaign to garner maximum publicity for her coming trial. The group also reportedly included non-Muslim women from the south of the country (a minority in the north and one that was assured, as part of the north-south peace agreement, that sharia would not apply to its members). The incident has prompted a member of the southern SPLM – now incorporated into the ranks of the government – to demand an investigation into the event, hinting at concerns over the viability of a united Sudan as the 2011 referendum (when the south will vote for or against secession) looms. The difficulties of governing two different communities in one country under two different sets of laws are highlighted by the harsh punishment for brewing of illegal alcohol known as "araqi", more often than not concocted by poor women from the south. On a recent trip back to Khartoum, I watched from my window as a family of southern squatters stood by while their makeshift tents were burned to the ground by public order police as punishment for brewing alcohol illegally.

There has been a media blackout on the latest floggings in Khartoum and the word on the street is that the security officer who engineered the cafe raid was a lone ranger provoked by al-Hussein's tone when he urged the women to act or dress more modestly. Her lawyer stated that such raids were to remind people "that Big Brother is watching you", and there is certainly an element of this in the government's rather erratic approach to its implementation of sharia. Since this commitment to divine law is cosmetic and not in earnest, the religious whip is cracked when there may be a perception that the regime is going soft, using Islam as proxy for authoritarianism. However, the whole affair is embarrassing for the government, which finds itself in a Catch-22. To go ahead with the trial of the remaining women would be a step backwards, bad for its new foreign investment-attracting, oil-exporting image (France has already expressed its chagrin), but President Omar al-Bashir et al are not yet secure enough in their positions to accept the ongoing dilution of religious decorum, dismantle public order laws and withdraw their mandate from such outfits as the public order police. I predict a face-saving magnanimous presidential "pardon", such as the one bestowed upon Gillian Gibbons – one that does not discredit the initial charge but halts proceedings or stays punishment. What these women were wearing is hardly the point. They were just an easy target for someone's discomfort with the challenge they posed to convention, traditionalism and the status quo. As with all self-declared Islamic governments, what a woman wears becomes no longer an issue of religious modesty but one of audacity and defiance to a regime's raison d'etre and authority.

[Al-khiyal]

[Al-khiyal]

Cela se passera aujourd’hui au Soudan :
40 coups de fouet pour une journaliste

Mercredi 29 Juillet 2009 -- Une journaliste soudanaise se prépare à recevoir 40 coups de fouet aujourd’hui pour avoir mis une tenue «indécente», près de trois semaines après la flagellation de 10 femmes pour la même raison. Loubna Ahmed Al Hussein, qui écrit pour le journal de gauche Al Sahafa et travaille pour la Mission des Nations unies au Soudan (Unmis), avait été interpellée début juillet à Khartoum alors qu’elle portait un pantalon. « J’ai reçu un coup de téléphone des autorités disant que je devais comparaître aujourd’hui à 10h devant le juge », a dit Mme Hussein hier à l’AFP. « Il est important que les gens sachent ce qui se passe », a-t-elle ajouté, invitant les journalistes à « être présents » lors de sa comparution devant la cour et sa flagellation. « Ils vont me fouetter 40 fois et m’imposer une amende de 250 livres soudanaises » (100 dollars), a-t-elle poursuivi. La journaliste avait raconté à l’AFP qu’elle se trouvait dans un restaurant, le 3 juillet, lorsque la police y avait fait irruption, ordonnant à 13 femmes portant des pantalons de les suivre au poste. Dix des 13 femmes avaient été convoquées par la police deux jours plus tard et fouettées dix fois chacune, selon Mme Hussein. Parmi elles figurent des Soudanaises du sud semi-autonome (majoritairement chrétien ou animiste) où la charia (loi islamique) n’est pas en vigueur. Une autre journaliste, Amal Habbani, a été accusée d’avoir diffamé la police après avoir écrit un article dans le journal Ajrass Al-Horreya condamnant la manière dont Loubna Hussein avait été traitée. « J’attends une décision », a déclaré Mme Habbani, passible d’une amende de plusieurs centaines de milliers de dollars si elle est reconnue coupable. Le Réseau arabe pour l’information sur les droits de l’homme a estimé que la plainte contre Mme Habbani découlait de son affirmation que l’arrestation de Mme Hussein n’était « pas une question de mode mais une tactique politique pour intimider et terroriser les opposants ». Les femmes ont beau être très présentes dans la vie publique au Soudan, certaines lois demeurent discriminatoires à leur égard, selon des organisations de défense des droits de l’homme.

[Al-khiyal]

Flagellation d’une journaliste au Soudan :
Le courage de Loubna

Jeudi 30 Juillet 2009 -- Une journaliste soudanaise, passible de 40 coups de fouet pour avoir porté un pantalon, une tenue jugée «indécente», sera fixée sur son sort le 4 août après l’ajournement hier de l’audience devant un tribunal de Khartoum. Loubna Ahmed al-Hussein, qui travaille pour un journal de gauche ainsi qu’à la section communication de la Mission des Nations unies au Soudan (Unmis) et bénéficie à ce titre d’une immunité, a annoncé son intention de démissionner pour que le procès se poursuive, a expliqué son avocat. «La cour a donné le choix à Loubna : soit accepter l’immunité octroyée par les Nations unies, soit lever l’immunité et poursuivre le procès», a affirmé Nabil Adib. « Loubna a choisi d’abandonner son immunité », a-t-il dit. Mme Hussein, qui s’est présentée devant le juge en pantalon, a déclaré devant la cour qu’elle avait l’intention de quitter l’ONU. « Je souhaite démissionner de l’ONU. Je souhaite que ce procès continue », a-t-elle affirmé devant une centaine de personnes venues assister à l’audience. Mme Hussein, qui porte le voile islamique, risque 40 coups de fouet et une amende de 250 livres soudanaises (100 USD) si elle est reconnue coupable. Elle avait raconté qu’elle se trouvait dans un restaurant le 3 juillet, lorsque la police y avait fait irruption, ordonnant à 13 femmes portant un pantalon de les suivre au poste. Dix des femmes avaient été convoquées par la police deux jours plus tard et fouettées dix fois chacune, selon elle. Parmi elles, figurent des Soudanaises du Sud semi-autonome, majoritairement chrétien ou animiste, où la charia (loi islamique) n’est pas en vigueur.

Hier, la journaliste portait les mêmes vêtements que ce jour-là : un pantalon et un foulard verts et un haut à fleurs. Quelques-unes des femmes, venues afficher leur soutien, portaient aussi un pantalon en signe de solidarité. En quittant le tribunal, Loubna Hussein a salué la foule dans un geste de défi. « Nous sommes ici pour soutenir Loubna, parce que traiter les femmes de cette manière est arbitraire et incorrect, a déclaré Zouhal Mohammed el-Amine, professeur de droit à Khartoum. Les femmes ne devraient pas être humiliées de cette manière. » Une autre journaliste, Amal Habbani, a été accusée d’avoir diffamé la police après avoir écrit un article dans le journal Ajrass al-Horreya, condamnant la manière dont Loubna Hussein avait été traitée. « J’attends une décision », a déclaré Mme Habbani, passible d’une amende de plusieurs centaines de milliers de dollars si elle est reconnue coupable. Pour le Réseau arabe pour l’information sur les droits de l’homme, la plainte contre Mme Habbani découle de son affirmation que l’arrestation de Mme Hussein « n’était pas une question de mode, mais une tactique politique pour intimider et terroriser les opposants ».

[Al-khiyal]

Sudanese journalist quits UN job to go on trial for wearing trousers

July 30, 2009 -- A female Sudanese journalist facing 40 lashes for wearing trousers in public told a packed Khartoum courtroom yesterday that she was resigning from a UN job that grants her immunity so that she could challenge the law on women's dress. Lubna Hussein was among 13 women arrested on 3 July in a raid by members of the public order police force on a popular Khartoum cafe. The women were all wearing trousers, considered indecent under the strict interpretation of Islamic law adopted by Sudan's Islamic regime. All but three of the women were flogged at a police station two days later.

But Hussein and two other women decided to go to trial and Hussein invited human rights workers, western diplomats and fellow journalists to Wednesday's hearing. Some of her women friends arrived in court wearing trousers in a show of support. "This is not a case about me wearing pants," said Hussein, who works in the media department of the UN mission in Sudan and contributes opinion pieces to a left-leaning Khartoum newspaper. "This is a case about annulling the article that addresses women's dress code, under the title of indecent acts. This is my battle. This article is against the constitution and even against Islamic law itself."

Judge Mudathir Rashid adjourned the hearing until 4 August to give Hussein time to leave her job. Hussein said she would resign immediately and thanked the UN for intervening to spare her possible punishment. She said the UN mission was trying to stand by her, invoking a clause in an agreement between the Sudanese government and UN representatives in Sudan that obliges officials to ask permission before starting legal proceedings against a member of UN staff. Hussein's defence lawyer, Nabil Adeeb, said the UN wanted to protect its staff, but Hussein wanted her trial to proceed. "We have contradicting interests," he said. Hussein could face at least 40 lashes, according to Adeeb.

Sharia law has been strictly implemented in Sudan since an army coup led by Omar al-Bashir in 1989. Activists and lawyers say the implementation of the law is arbitrary. Public order cases usually involve quick summary trials with sentences carried out shortly afterwards, as was the case with the 10 of the 13 women arrested earlier this month. They were flogged and fined 250 Sudanese pounds (£63). Women in mostly Muslim northern Sudan, particularly in the capital, Khartoum, dress in traditional outfits that cover their heads and shoulders. Western dress is uncommon. However, the raid on a Khartoum cafe popular with journalists and foreigners was unusual.

[Al-khiyal]