Join the Sudanese women & girls showing violent militants that there is no turning back

The Sudanese Transitional Government has Blood on its Hands:
The Pattern of Violence against Women and Girls Continues


Civil Society Statement
Khartoum March 30/2021
Photography Credit: Ibrahim Saehon

In Sudan, militant Islamists are still running the same old game to intimidate the Sudanese people, especially women and girls. Misogyny and intimidation remain the primary ammunition for the forces of militancy and violence in the country. With the fall of the ex-regime, militant Islamists in Sudan are working to regain control through the continued marginalization of women, by twisting religion to justify the dehumanization of women and girls and the use of violence against them.

The complacency and modest political will of the Sudanese transitional government along with its reluctance to establish accountability for the use of violence against women and girls has emboldened militant Islamists to reassert themselves and their hateful, discriminatory rhetoric.

The truth of the matter is that the previous regime is still very present in Sudan’s governing structures and institutions. Transformation is still more symbolic than structural. This is the case largely because the Transitional Government has halted progress toward reforming the government structures, laws and policies that continue to uphold the misogynistic ideology of the militant Islamist era.

Less than two weeks ago, on March 19th (2021) a father openly murdered his 14-year-old daughter, and he is already out on bail. Sudan’s legal framework continues to allow men to evade accountability for domestic violence, because the use of violence is considered part of their role as guardians to the women and girls they harm.

In this case, Samah Al Hadi Ibrahim, was shot dead by her father in Al Salha area in Omdurman (part of greater Khartoum State). According to accounts from her neighbors, Samah went out of her house assuming her father was not around, and that the moment she arrived home he was on his way out looking for her. He hit her with the car in the middle of the road and took her into the house. He locked her sisters in a separate room and was heard yelling at Samah’s mother, "witness the death of your daughter," after which several gunshots were heard. Samah was confirmed to have died from gunshot wounds,[1] though the mother’s uncle claimed that the father’s gun accidentally went off while Samah was playing with it.

According to a statement by the Sudan-based Coalition of Pressure Groups (TAM), sexual violence in Darfur is becoming increasingly normalized, and girls as young as 10-years old are exposed to rape. Last week on the 27th of March, a woman in west Darfur - Mesteri area was raped by armed militia. Three other women were flogged while collecting firewood. According to a statement by the Coalition of Pressure Groups (TAM) based in Sudan.

The egregious murder of Samah prompted outcry from feminist and women rights activists in Sudan. In response to critiques of the police’s management of this case, the Head of Police for Khartoum publicly blamed women and called for the reinstatement of the moral policing apparatus that existed under the former regime: the public order regime.[2] This display of misogyny must not be written off as an anomaly, as ‘one crazy man,’ because it is far more dangerous than that. Misogyny is still institutionalized in Sudan, and these remarks by the Head of Police are just the latest development in the resurgence of the forces of militancy and terror, which have been building over the past several months.

The statement by the Head of Police follows the rhetoric of a massive anti-women social media campaign (alongside support and sympathy for the killer) that has been popularized using Facebook to incite violence against women and girls, including femicide. In particular, the campaign calls on men to “flog women,” to carry whips and use corporal punishment to discipline women in public spaces as they see fit.[3]

In the face of this escalating violence, Sudanese women and girls of all backgrounds have taken a stance in huge numbers, both virtually and in person, to firmly show the militant Islamists that there is no turning back.

For the moment, the government has left Sudanese women and girls high and dry, by refusing to take meaningful steps to hold perpetrators accountable and denounce the promotion of gendered violence. In this case, the government has removed the Head of Police in Khartoum state from his post, but this small gesture carries little weight. Moreover, to act as if the problem began and ended with one Head of Police is a betrayal to the women and girls of Sudan, many of whom were leaders in the Revolution that brought the current transitional government to power. To date neither the Sudanese Prime Minister, nor the Sudanese Minister of Justice, nor any member of the Sovereign Council, has announced further plans to meaningfully address the consistent and increasing trend of violence against women and girls in Sudan.

The Sudanese Transitional Government must be held accountable for their role in the enabling environment that has led to the murder of Samah, and popular support for a misogynistic campaign that promotes violence against women and girls.

We, in the forces of free civil society, categorically reject the campaign of hate speech directed at women and girls, which promotes violence and is being openly circulated in several digital platforms. We know all too well that the forces of the former regime are still pulling the strings of the justice system in Sudan today. We further warn that, with the current state of economic and security deterioration, lack of rule of law, poor civilian protection, and increasing violence against women and girls, Sudan is extremely vulnerable to militant Islamist groups in the region. Further complacency on the part of the government may embolden groups like Boko Haram and al-Shabab to attempt to extend their influence.

We, in the forces of free civil society, also remind the Sudanese Transitional Government of the magnitude of the responsibility they have accepted, which is to reflect in the country’s structures and institutions the transformative change that was started by the revolutionary sit-ins and protests that overthrew the previous regime.

We call on the Transitional Government of Sudan to:

1. Urgently implement comprehensive legal reform and to restructure and rebuild the Sudanese policing and judiciary institutions particularly in conflicts and  
2. Form specialized prosecution offices to ensure that violent/militant groups and individuals are held accountable for gender-based hatred campaigns, and to address the escalating prevalence of violence against women and girls.
3. Fulfill its obligation to implement the provisions of the constitutional document, which establish equal rights for all, without discrimination on the basis of gender, amongst other categories.
4. Immediately adopt the international human rights charters and treaties that endorse gender equality in all legal and political amendments and reforms. This should begin with the signing and ratification of the Convention on the Elimination of all Forms of Discrimination against Women (CEDAW), and the ratification of the Protocol to the African Charter on Human and People’s Rights on the Rights of Women in Africa (Maputo Protocol).
5. Ensure the safety and security of women and girls in public and private spheres by establishing specialized prosecution offices and courts to deal with gender-based violence.
6. Demonstrate an unwavering commitment to counter the violent and militant ideology that particularly targets women and girls.

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[1] “The autopsy report stated that the causes of death were multiple bullets, a gunshot which penetrated the chest, which damaged the left lung, and the severe hemorrhage” – quote from the press release issued by the Executive Office of the Sudanese Attorney General about the circumstances of Samah’s death, on the 27th of March, 2021
[2] Al Jazeera Sudan. (2021, March 25). “Live_Khartoum Head of Khartoum State Police Lieutenant General Eisa Adam Ismail in a conversation with the public about the security deterioration and in response to the accusation that the police forces are not fulfilling their roles and working against the establishment of the civilian state in collaboration with the former regime.” https://fb.watch/4y-H_YiDCE/
[3] “(Soot Anaj - سوط عنج)” ... Anger over a campaign calling for women to be flogged in the streets of Sudan. (2021, March 28). Al Hurra . https://www.alhurra.com/sudan