40 Women Arrested and beaten in Khartoum, 4 world Pulse members among



World Pulse- Breaking News (Updated today Dec.15)
Sudanese Police and members of National Intelligence and Security Service (NISS) in plain cloth today brutally beaten and detained in Khartoum 40 females of Women Initiative Against Violence (WIAV), while peacefully protesting lashing women and implementation of some of the laws, such as the Public Law Order, which they consider unfair to women, because it mistreats women and allow flogging them.



Four of World Pulse members were among the arrested women; Dr. Nahid Mohamed Al-Hassan and Dr. Ihsan Fagiri both are physicians as well as Rabah Sadiq Al Mahdi and Najla Sid Ahmed. The first is a journalist writer while the second is a freelance journalist.



it was reported in websites that the gathering planned to deliver to day a memorandum protesting the last week's incident of brutally lashing a young woman, when the police blocked most roads leading to center of Khartoum and prevented many cars and mini buses bringing women from adjacent areas to join the gathering. but More than forty women could escape the police blockage and assembled outside the Justice Ministry building holding banners condemning the law, while they were surrounded by riot police telling them to disperse and move away. Worth noting that one of the World Pulse detained members wrote in her page after been released that the police yesterday had accepted their demand to arrange a peaceful procession to the Justice Ministry. The police didn't officially comment on this allegation.



the initiative came in response to the two minutes and six seconds footage, which showed a young woman in a voluminous black cloak crying while she made knelt on her knees and harshly flogged in public by two policemen who were laughing while carrying out the punishment in one of Omdurman's prisons.(http://ireport.cnn.com/docs/DOC-527066).
The video lately removed by You Tube because it contradicts its terms of service but had been widely circulated on and covered by international channels and websites.



Detainees were taken to the Northern Police department and their lawyers weren't allowed to get in and meet them. Only some politicians and human right activists were allowed to enter.



In recent developments the Sudanese judiciary had already promised to probe into the flogging of the unnamed woman who appeared in the You Tube shooting and widely circulated on the internet. Official statements gave two contradictory date for the flogging timing ranging between February this year and July 2009 and appeared more concerned to investigate how the video was leaked and, who did so and the timing that coincided with the Human Rights Day. But they stated that she had been convicted under articles 154-155 of the Sudanese Penal Code of 1991.



The Radio Dabanga, website (a Darfuri media) mentioned today that " The judiciary said in a statement issued Monday that the investigation will be on the implementation of punishment for violation of regulations prescribed by the law, and in accordance with the criminal code. The statement stressed the judiciary will take seriously the outcome of the investigation."



The recent event of brutally flogging the young lady, have revealed the dimension of the situation the Sudanese women under the criminal law. Whipping was practiced over the past twenty years and no woman dared to report flogging out of fear to be stigmatized as indecent. Until last year female local journalist Lubna Al Hussein provoked the situation of the Sudanese women under the Public Oder Law, 1991, when she was sentenced to flogging for wearing pants in public.But at last she was sentenced to pay fine instead. Later she left the country where she went to France where she lives currently.



Under this rule, pants – whether lose or tight – are looked upon as sinful and a punishment of 40 lashes is equivalent to half the penalty for adultery in Islamic law punishment. According to the police directors' interview wiht Sharq alawsat Arabic daily newspaper, more than forty thousands women had been sentenced last year of indecently wearing outfits in public.



For full information, please visit the following link:http://www.worldpulse.com/node/32091

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