Human Rights of Women
Source: Amnesty International
The Public Order Police (POP) arrested 12 female Christian students on 25 June. Ten of them were charged with "indecent dress", under Article 152 of Sudan's 1991 Criminal Act, while the other two were released. The POP subjected the students to degrading treatment and humiliating verbal abuse during their
detention. Article 152 of the 1991 Criminal Act gives POP extensive powers to arrest any person for "indecent dress" and the punishment if found guilty is 40 lashes, or a fine, or with both. In practice the law is used exclusively against women.
The POP stopped the 12 students at 10 pm in front of the Evangelical Baptist Church in Khartoum North, where they had attended a ceremony, and took them to a local police station in Khartoum North.
According to information obtained by Amnesty International, the students are between 17 and 23 years old, and all are Christians, originally from the war-torn Nuba Mountains in South Kordofan state. At the time of their arrest, some were wearing trousers and others skirts. Two of the students were released about four hours after their arrest and the remaining 10 were released on bail at around 10 am on 27 June. The 10 were taken to court on 28 June where the charges against them were confirmed and court dates set. One student, Fardos Al Toum, 19, appeared in court on 6 July, wearing another dress deemed indecent by the judge who, disregarding any due process, immediately sentenced her to a fine of 500 Sudanese pounds ($83) or a month in prison. Her fine was paid by activists and her supporters and she will appear in court again in relation to the original charge. Another student, aged 17, appeared in court on 7 July and, because of her age, was transferred to a Juvenile Court.
The other nine students: Fardos Al Toum, 19; Ishraga James, 20; Uthan Omer Eljaily, 22; Diana Yagoub Abd Alrahman, 19; Seema Ali Osman, 20; Inas Mohamed Elkomani, 23; Rehab Omer Kakoum,18; Nasra Omer Kakoum, 20; and Wigdan Abdallah Salih – will appear in court on 9, 13, 16 and 17 July according to their lawyer.