Advocacy groups call to abolish death sentences by stoning in Sudan
August 3, 2022 (KHARTOUM) – 19 women human rights and advocacy groups in Sudan called to abolish death sentences by stoning and to end continued acts of brutality violating women’s rights in the country.
On July 27, 2022, a Sudanese court in Kosty city of the White Nile state sentenced a 20-year-old young woman to death by stoning for allegedly committing the crime of adultery.
In response to this sentence, women’s rights groups issued a statement on Wednesday denouncing the barbaric verdict in line with the Sudanese Criminal Act imposed by the former Islamist regime.
This sentence is a clear violation of international human rights standards against the use of torture and cruel or unusual punishment, stoning is still included as an obligatory sentence for certain crimes under the Sudanese Criminal Act of 1991, which still remains in effect three years after the ouster of the al-Bashir regime.
“We call on the human rights community, the African Union, the Arab League, and United Nations bodies to demand that Sudan observe women’s rights and prevent continued acts of brutality,” reads the statement.
“We demand that Sudanese political parties and organizations conduct a thorough review and reform of Sudanese laws including the Criminal Act and Family Law, abolish the punishment for adultery, and remove all inhumane forms of punishment from the Sudanese legal system,” it further stressed.
The civilian government formed after the removal of the Islamist regime failed to abolish what Sudanese call “September Laws” due to the opposition shown by the military component which stressed that Islamic laws should be reformed by an elected parliament.
At the time, the conciliatory head of the civilian government Abdallah Hamdok accepted their position despite the significant role played by the Sudanese women in the revolution.
The advocacy groups underscored the urgent need for reforming the legal and judiciary systems in Sudan saying that the country continues to be governed by a “dysfunctional justice system” in contradiction with its obligations under international human rights laws.
“Sudan has failed to integrate its ratification of the UN Convention against Torture and Other Cruel, Inhuman or Degrading Treatment or Punishment (UNCAT) and the International Covenant of Civil and Political Rights (ICCPR) into its national laws. Especially the non-derogable rights under Article 4, which include the right to life (Article 6), the right to a fair trial (Article 14), and freedom from torture and cruel, inhuman, and degrading treatment and punishment (Article 7),” emphasized the civil society groups.
Sudan is still one of a few countries that have yet to ratify the Convention on the Elimination of All Forms of Discrimination Against Women (CEADW) and the Protocol to the African Charter on Human and Peoples’ Rights on the Rights of Women in Africa (Maputo Protocol).
The ratification of these had been endorsed by the council of ministers but the military coup of October 25, 2022, stopped the process.
(ST)