10.06.03
Urgent Interventions
Sudan: 30 lashes of the whip of a 15 year-old girl in Nyala
Case SDN 100603.CC / SDN 100603.VAW
Child concern / Violence against women
Corporal punishment
The International Secretariat of OMCT requests your URGENT intervention in the following situation in Sudan.
Brief description of the situation
The International Secretariat of OMCT has been informed by the Sudanese Organisation Against Torture (SOAT), a member of the OMCT network, of the sentencing to 30 lashes of the whip of a 15 year-old girl in Nyala, Western Darfour, in Sudan.
According to the information received, on June 1st, 2003, Ms. Aziza Salih Adam was sentenced to 30 lashes of the whip by the District Court (Mahkamat Al-Muhafiza), in Nyala, Western Darfour, for not wearing socks. The sentence was carried out on the same day.
Ms. Aziza Salih Adam is an assistant to a street vendor selling tea in the Wehda district of Nyala. The Police for Community Security (Police Amn Al-Mujtama) arrested Aziza on the street where she was working for not wearing socks. Regulations require all female street-vendors, particularly those selling food and tea, to wear socks to cover their feet. Aziza attempted to defend herself, explaining that she could not afford to buy socks.
The International Secretariat of OMCT notes with grave concern that corporal punishments, such as flogging, amputation and stoning are increasingly being carried out as punishments against the people of Darfour, especially girls and women (see urgent appeals SDN 210503.VAW.CC, SDN 040201.VAW and its two follow-up appeals). Strict adherence to impractical dress codes is often enforced with severe punishments as the consequence for disobedience.
OMCT believes that any case of amputation and stoning is a case of torture under any circumstance, and that flogging amounts to torture in most cases. These punishments are unlawful as they clearly violate international human rights standards that prohibit torture and ill treatment. OMCT recalls that Sudan has ratified the Convention on the Rights of the Child, which states that “No child shall be subjected to torture or any other cruel, inhuman or degrading treatment or punishment.” Sudan is also a State Party to the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights, which prohibits torture and cruel, inhuman or degrading treatment in Article 7. Sudan has not signed the Convention on the Elimination of All Forms of Discrimination Against Women, a signal of the government’s failure to adequately protect women’s rights.
Action requested
Please write to the authorities in Sudan urging them to:
i. take all necessary measures to guarantee the physical and psychological rehabilitation of Ms. Aziza Salih Adam;
ii. ensure that adequate reparation, including access to medical assistance, is provided to Ms. Aziza Salih Adam;
iii. take all necessary measures to ensure respect for the international human rights instruments to which Sudan is party, which includes respect for the prohibition of torture and cruel, inhuman or degrading treatment and punishment, such as the practice of corporal punishment;
iv. guarantee girls and women their human rights, including their right to be free from discrimination, their right to legal counsel and a fair trial, and their right to be free from torture and cruel, inhuman or degrading treatment or punishment, in line with international laws and standards;
v. ratify the Convention on the Elimination of All Forms of Discrimination Against Women as well as the Convention against Torture;
vi. guarantee the respect of human rights and the fundamental freedoms throughout the country in accordance with national laws and international human rights standards.
Addresses
· His Excellency Lieutenant General Omar Hassan al-Bashir, President of the Republic of Sudan, People’s Palace, PO Box 281, Khartoum, Sudan, Fax: + 24911 783223
· Mr Ali Osman Yassin, Minister of Justice and Attorney General, Ministry of Justice, Khartoum, Sudan. Fax: + 24911 788941
· Mr Mustafa Osman Ismail, Minister of Foreign Affairs, Ministry of Foreign Affairs, PO Box 873, Khartoum, Sudan, Fax: 24911 779383
· Dr Yasir Sid Ahmed, Advisory Council for Human Rights, PO Box 302, Khartoum, Sudan, Fax: + 24911 770883
· His Excellency Ambassador Mr Ibrahim Mirghani Ibrahim, Permanent Mission of Sudan to the United Nations in Geneva, PO Box 335, 1211 Geneva, Switzerland, Fax: +4122 7312656. E-mail: mission.sudan@ties.itu.int
Please also write to the embassies of Sudan in your respective country.
Geneva, June 10th, 2003
Kindly inform us of any action undertaken quoting the code of this appeal in your reply.
Child concern / Violence against women
Corporal punishment
The International Secretariat of OMCT requests your URGENT intervention in the following situation in Sudan.
Brief description of the situation
The International Secretariat of OMCT has been informed by the Sudanese Organisation Against Torture (SOAT), a member of the OMCT network, of the sentencing to 30 lashes of the whip of a 15 year-old girl in Nyala, Western Darfour, in Sudan.
According to the information received, on June 1st, 2003, Ms. Aziza Salih Adam was sentenced to 30 lashes of the whip by the District Court (Mahkamat Al-Muhafiza), in Nyala, Western Darfour, for not wearing socks. The sentence was carried out on the same day.
Ms. Aziza Salih Adam is an assistant to a street vendor selling tea in the Wehda district of Nyala. The Police for Community Security (Police Amn Al-Mujtama) arrested Aziza on the street where she was working for not wearing socks. Regulations require all female street-vendors, particularly those selling food and tea, to wear socks to cover their feet. Aziza attempted to defend herself, explaining that she could not afford to buy socks.
The International Secretariat of OMCT notes with grave concern that corporal punishments, such as flogging, amputation and stoning are increasingly being carried out as punishments against the people of Darfour, especially girls and women (see urgent appeals SDN 210503.VAW.CC, SDN 040201.VAW and its two follow-up appeals). Strict adherence to impractical dress codes is often enforced with severe punishments as the consequence for disobedience.
OMCT believes that any case of amputation and stoning is a case of torture under any circumstance, and that flogging amounts to torture in most cases. These punishments are unlawful as they clearly violate international human rights standards that prohibit torture and ill treatment. OMCT recalls that Sudan has ratified the Convention on the Rights of the Child, which states that “No child shall be subjected to torture or any other cruel, inhuman or degrading treatment or punishment.” Sudan is also a State Party to the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights, which prohibits torture and cruel, inhuman or degrading treatment in Article 7. Sudan has not signed the Convention on the Elimination of All Forms of Discrimination Against Women, a signal of the government’s failure to adequately protect women’s rights.
Action requested
Please write to the authorities in Sudan urging them to:
i. take all necessary measures to guarantee the physical and psychological rehabilitation of Ms. Aziza Salih Adam;
ii. ensure that adequate reparation, including access to medical assistance, is provided to Ms. Aziza Salih Adam;
iii. take all necessary measures to ensure respect for the international human rights instruments to which Sudan is party, which includes respect for the prohibition of torture and cruel, inhuman or degrading treatment and punishment, such as the practice of corporal punishment;
iv. guarantee girls and women their human rights, including their right to be free from discrimination, their right to legal counsel and a fair trial, and their right to be free from torture and cruel, inhuman or degrading treatment or punishment, in line with international laws and standards;
v. ratify the Convention on the Elimination of All Forms of Discrimination Against Women as well as the Convention against Torture;
vi. guarantee the respect of human rights and the fundamental freedoms throughout the country in accordance with national laws and international human rights standards.
Addresses
· His Excellency Lieutenant General Omar Hassan al-Bashir, President of the Republic of Sudan, People’s Palace, PO Box 281, Khartoum, Sudan, Fax: + 24911 783223
· Mr Ali Osman Yassin, Minister of Justice and Attorney General, Ministry of Justice, Khartoum, Sudan. Fax: + 24911 788941
· Mr Mustafa Osman Ismail, Minister of Foreign Affairs, Ministry of Foreign Affairs, PO Box 873, Khartoum, Sudan, Fax: 24911 779383
· Dr Yasir Sid Ahmed, Advisory Council for Human Rights, PO Box 302, Khartoum, Sudan, Fax: + 24911 770883
· His Excellency Ambassador Mr Ibrahim Mirghani Ibrahim, Permanent Mission of Sudan to the United Nations in Geneva, PO Box 335, 1211 Geneva, Switzerland, Fax: +4122 7312656. E-mail: mission.sudan@ties.itu.int
Please also write to the embassies of Sudan in your respective country.
Geneva, June 10th, 2003
Kindly inform us of any action undertaken quoting the code of this appeal in your reply.