ERT Urges Sudanese Parliament to Repeal Indecency Law

The Equal Rights Trust (ERT) has called on the Parliament of Sudan to repeal Article 152 of the 1991 Criminal Act because it breaches the country’s human rights obligations.

In a letter sent on 17 September 2009, ERT expressed concern about the discriminatory application of Article 152, which has been used to target women and non-Muslims, and has disproportionately affected both categories of persons. The letter also echoes concerns that whipping, the prescribed punishment for breaching Article 152, constitutes cruel, degrading and inhuman treatment.

ERT urged the authorities to repeal Article 152 of the 1991 Criminal Act. It further urged authorities to review the country’s criminal justice and other legislation in order to ensure it complies with the principle of non-discrimination, which is central to international treaties to which Sudan is a party.

ERT’s letter follows the imprisonment and subsequent release of Sudanese journalist Lubna Hussein for breaching Article 152 by wearing trousers. On Monday 8th September, Ms Hussein was sentenced to a month in prison after refusing to pay a fine for breaking the law. Ms Hussein was released on Tuesday 9th September after the Sudan Journalists Union paid the fine on her behalf. Ms Hussein was said to be dismayed, as she had intended to use her imprisonment to challenge the legitimacy of the law.

Article 152 of the Sudanese penal code states:

(1) Whoever commits, in a public place, an act, or conducts himself in an indecent manner, or a manner contrary to public morality, or wears an indecent or immoral dress, which causes annoyance to public feelings, shall be punished, with whipping not exceeding forty lashes, or a fine or both.
(2) The act shall be deemed contrary to public morality, if it is so considered in the religion of the doer, or the custom of the country where the act occurs.

Ms Hussein’s case highlights the need to repeal a law which raises a number of serious human rights concerns, particularly with regard to the right to non-discrimination. Whilst it is gender neutral on its face, Article 152 of the Criminal Act has reportedly been applied in a manner that discriminates against women. According to reports by national and international human rights organisations, Article 152 has often been used to prosecute women for conduct – such as the wearing of trousers – deemed inappropriate by individual law enforcement officers and judges. Women have been routinely arrested, detained, tried and then, on conviction, whipped simply because a police officer disapproves of their attire. Furthermore, it appears that many women sentenced by the Public Order Courts are non-Muslims who have been displaced to the North by the conflict in the South of Sudan.

To see the ERT letter, click here