By Kylie M Tsudama
Impunity Watch Reporter, Africa

KHARTOUM, Sudan – On July 3, police arrested Lubna Al Hussein and eighteen other women.  Their charge: dressing indecently in public.

According to the Arabic Network for Human Rights Information there is only one punishment under Sudanese law for an indecent clothing charge – 40 lashes in public.

Hussein is a journalist who worked for the media department of the UN mission in Sudan until recently.  At the time of arrest, she was wearing trousers, a blouse, and a hijab (headscarf).  The police say her trousers were too tight and that her blouse (Source: Sudan Tribune) was too transparent.

Her trial is set to begin on Tuesday.

“They ought to stop it,” said Nabil Adib, lawyer for Hussein. “It is quite unnecessary and degrading. It is harassment.”

Adib believes the charges will be dropped saying, “These things have their ups and downs.  These laws have generally relaxed as a matter of policy. But they are still sometimes enforced.”

Although some believe that the Sudanese government’s threat of flogging is a form of retaliation for Hussein’s criticism of the Sudanese regime, Adib does not believe that his client was targeted.

“There are round-ups that they do and it is indiscriminate,” he said. “I don’t think she was targeted specifically. They attack public and private parties and groups. They are called ‘morality police’ and she was just a victim of a round-up.”

UN Secretary General Ban Ki-moon called flogging “against the international human rights standards.”  He said he would protect his staff member with every effort but her lawyer says she resigned from her position with the UN to avoid the immunity she would have received.

Hussein will maintain her position of no wrongdoing.

For more information, please see:

The Age – Sudanese Woman to Dare Court Over Flogging – 03 August 2009

ABC News – Pants-wearing Woman Not Afraid of Flogging – 01 August 2009

Sudan Tribune – UN Ban Ki-Moon Says Deeply Concerned by Sudan Trousers Trial – 01 August 2009

Telegraph – ‘Whip Me if You Dare’ Says Lubna Hussein, Sudan’s Defiant Trouser Woman – 01 August 2009

CNN – Sudanese Lawyer Calls Woman’s Flogging Punishment ‘Degrading’ – 30 July 2009

By Jennifer M. Haralambides
Impunity Watch Reporter, Africa

WASHINGTON, D.C. – The United States is reviewing its stance on Sudan sanctions after U.S. envoy, General Scott Gration told law makers that there is no evidence to support keeping Sudan on a list of countries that sponsor terrorism.

The U.S. is reviewing how best to deal with the Sudanese government and the crisis in the nations Darfur region, where roughly 300,000 people were killed and over 2 million were forced into refuge.  As of now, no formal decision has been made on whether to remove Sudan from a list of terrorism-sponsoring countries.

“We have made no decision to lift the listing on the terrorist list of Sudan. As you know, there is a very intensive review going on within the administration concerning our policy toward Sudan, but no decisions have been made,” said Hillary Clinton, Secretary of State.

At a Senate hearing Gration called the terrorism designation “a political decision” and said it is hindering his work.  He believes that lifting the sanctions, which include restrictions on aid, would allow for heavy equipment and for other assistance to flow more easily to the people of Sudan who are still desperately in need.

Committee Chair, Senator John Kerry, appeared to support Gration’s thoughts on Sudan saying that after a visit to Khartoum last April he “came away convinced that we need to build a strategic framework that moves beyond simple oppositions…”

P.J. Crowley, a State Department spokesperson, said there is no split on whether the U.S. is shifting gears towards Sudan, and that although Sudan has improved its counter-terrorism cooperation, the country is on the “list” and will “remain on the list.”

“There’s a set process in law – and where we have been with Sudan, where we are with Sudan, where we want to go with Sudan is all incorporated into this review. And it is ongoing, and we expect this review to be completed.  At that point, I think the President and the Secretary will lay out where we’re going to go with Sudan going forward,” Crowley said.

Although the envoy’s remarks are a persuasive signal that the U.S. is considering a change of heart, the decision would not go without protest.  Advocacy groups and American Christian groups blame the North Sudanese government for the devastating violence and genocide in Darfur.

For more information, please see:

NPR – Does Envoy’s Approach Hint at U.S. Shift on Sudan? – 1 August 2009

Sudan Tribune – Clinton Says Sudan Policy Still Under Review – 1 August 2009

AP – Sudan Pleased With US Envoy’s Remarks on Terrorism – 31 July 2009

CNN Politics – Administration Denies Split on Sudan Policy – 31 July 2009

Reuters – Clinton Says No Decision to Ease Sudan Sanctions – 31 July 2009

By Jennifer M. Haralambides
Impunity Watch Reporter, Africa

MAIDUGURI, Nigeria – The leader of the Islamic fundamentalist group Boko Haram,  Mohammed Yusuf, was killed yesterday in a shoot-out with security forces.

“He has been killed.  You can come and see his body at the state police command headquarters,” said Isa Azare, spokesman for the Maiduguri police command.  It was reported that Yusuf’s bullet-riddled body was shown to journalists by police and displayed on state television shortly after his death.

Human rights activists have begun to allege that Yusuf had been executed and warned of revenge attacks, although police say that he died in a shoot-out.

The Nigerian information minister, Dora Akunyili, said that the Nigerian government does not “condone extrajudicial killings,” but then added, “what’s important is that he has been taken out of the way, to stop him [from] using people to cause mayhem.”

Last week during security driven raids, in search of the radical leader, it was rumored that Yusuf had fled town and was heading either to Chad or Cameroon.  However, he was finally taken into custody yesterday afternoon.  The attack resulted in heavy casualties, mostly on the side of the fundamentalists.  Police officials report that he was hiding in a goat pen at his parents-in-law’s house.

Governor Ali Modu Sheriff declared the capture of Yusuf and other remaining members of the sect to be a victory.  He also promised to come up with a bill to regulate religious sermons within the state.  Until such governmental action is implimented, the military will begin what they call “show-of-force” in Borno, Bauchi, Kano, Katsina, and Yobe to assure the civilian population of their preparedness to curtail any activities of the Boko Haram.

The Boko Haram have been in existence as far back as 1995, but have existed under many different names. This radical Islamist sect is commonly referred to as the “Nigerian Taliban.”

(source: Al Jazeera)

Al Jazeera – Nigeria’s Boko Haram Cheif ‘Killed‘ – 31 July 2009

BBC – Nigeria Row Over Militant Killing – 31 July 2009

Reuters – Hundreds of Bodies in Streets After Nigeria Unrest – 31 July 2009

This Day – Boko Haram Leader Killed – 31 July 2009

Times Online – Radical Islamic Leader Mohammed Yusuf Shot Dead By Nigerian Security Forces – 31 July 2009

Impunity Watch – Over 100 Civilians Freed From Captivity in Nigeria – 29 July 2009

By Kylie M Tsudama
Impunity Watch Reporter,  Africa

WASHINGTON DC, United States – United States Ambassador to the United Nations Susan Rice told a congressional committee that the United States is “deeply concerned and very frustrated” with Eritrea’s behavior in Somalia.

Eritrea is accused of arming, supporting, and funding al-Shabaab militants in Somalia, and of helping to destabilize the country and the surrounding region with a direct impact on US security.

“It is unacceptable, and we will not tolerate it, and nor will other members of the Security Council,” Rice said to the House Foreign Affairs Committee.

Rice told the UN that Eritrea’s contributions to Somali rebels would not be tolerated and that the Obama administration is committed to international peacekeeping operations.  The US supports reforms that will save money, strengthen oversight, and prevent fraud and abuse, including a zero tolerance policy on sexual exploitation by peacekeepers.

The United States is contributing $2.2 billion of the United Nations’ $7.8 billion UN peacekeeping budget for 2009.

Eritrea is running out of time before the UN Security Council intervenes and faces possible sanctions if it does not change its behavior.

“As I said in New York, there is a very short window for Eritrea to signal, through its actions, that it wishes a better relationship with the United States and the wider international community. If we do not see signs of that signal in short order, I can assure you that we will be taking appropriate steps with partners in Africa and the Security Council to take cognizance of Eritrea’s actions both in Somalia and the wider region,” said Rice.  “We will continue to discuss with colleagues in the Security Council appropriate measures, including potentially sanctions, against Eritrea for its actions in Somalia.”

US Secretary of State Hillary Clinton is set to visit with Somali President Sheikh Sharif Sheikh Ahmed during her visit to the region next week.

For more information, please see:

BBC – US Threatens Eritrea Over Somalia – 30 July 2009

Al Jazeera – US Threatens Eritrea with Sanctions – 29 July 2009

Reuters – U.S.’s UN Envoy Warns Eritrea Over Somalia Rebels – 29 July 2009

VOA – UN Ambassador Says US Committed to Peacekeeping – 29 July 2009