Sudan: nothing wrong with rape

[wautd]

Rape Is Not Adultery

KHARTOUM, Oct 26, 2010 (IPS/TerraViva) - Women in the Sudanese region of Darfur have been raped with impunity since the start of the conflict there in 2003. Now a campaign to reform the rape law is gaining momentum in the country, promoted by Alliance 149, a national coalition born in late 2009.

Under Article 149 - the portion of the Sudanese Criminal Code of 1991 which pertains to rape - the crime is defined as "zina", intercourse between a man and a woman who are not married to one another, without consent.

The legislation states that a woman needs four male witnesses to prove that this act was "without consent". If she reports a rape and cannot obtain such evidence, she will be charged with adultery and punished with 100 lashes, if unmarried, or with death by stoning, if married.
"The reformed law will be a success to all Sudanese women as adultery and rape will be separated and the criminal will receive a long sentence," said Amro Kamal, a lawyer volunteering for the Sudan Human Rights Monitor and an Alliance 149 board member.

The Sudanese Criminal Code "is supposedly based on shariah laws, but the fact that Article 149 doesn’t distinguish between zina and rape is problematic and un-Islamic," he said.

The western region of Darfur deserves a different approach. The ongoing conflict between non-Arab rebels, the Sudanese military and Arab Janjaweed militias has resulted in 300,000 civilian deaths and more than two million people internally displaced.

The Alliance suggests the adoption of international humanitarian laws to better suit the needs of victims of sexual violence in Darfur.

Women living there continue to face the risk of rape and forced displacement daily. Many have left their homes and live in government-established camps - some remain in these camps for years.

"It is not easy for a woman who has been raped in our community, especially when a baby is born from the rape. The community will not accept this baby," said Mahbouba Abdur Rahman Ali, of the Women Empowerment Organisation

The Comprehensive Peace Agreement that ended a 21-year conflict between the Arab Muslim north and the Christian black south in 2005 requires legal reform to comply with international human rights standards, according to the Alliance.

"Sudan is not a signatory to the Convention on the Elimination of All Forms of Discrimination against Women (CEDAW)," a source from the Family and Child Unit told TerraViva. "This makes it difficult to reform current laws related to women because there is nobody responsible for women’s affairs."

Alliance 149 is slowly gaining the attention of legislators. When it launched its campaign, in January, it attracted officials from the Ministry of Interior Affairs, the police forces, parliamentarians and representatives from political parties.

"It was great to see women’s groups and representatives from the government and the judiciary working together for such a great cause," said Fahima Hashim, an Alliance board member and director of Salmmah Women’s Resource Centre.

Bolded mine. With laws like that, good luck condemning rapists. And if you're on the receiving end, well...

Militants stone to death Somali rape victim, 13
MOGADISHU, Somalia — A 13-year-old girl who said she had been raped was stoned to death in Somalia after being accused of adultery by Islamic militants, a human rights group said.

Dozens of men stoned Aisha Ibrahim Duhulow to death Oct. 27 in a stadium packed with 1,000 spectators in the southern port city of Kismayo, Amnesty International and Somali media reported, citing witnesses. The Islamic militia in charge of Kismayo had accused her of adultery after she reported that three men had raped her, the rights group said.

Initial local media reports said Duhulow was 23, but her father told Amnesty International she was 13. Some of the Somali journalists who first reported the killing later told Amnesty International that they had reported she was 23 based upon her physical appearance.

"This child suffered a horrendous death at the behest of the armed opposition groups who currently control Kismayo," David Copeman, Amnesty International's Somalia campaigner, said in a statement Friday.

Somalia is among the world's most violent and impoverished countries. The nation of some 8 million people has not had a functioning government since warlords overthrew a dictator in 1991 then turned on each other.

A quarter of Somali children die before age 5; nearly every public institution has collapsed. Fighting is a daily occurrence, with violent deaths reported nearly every day.

Islamic militants with ties to al-Qaida have been battling the government and its Ethiopian allies since their combined forces pushed the Islamists from the capital in December 2006. Within weeks of being driven out, the Islamists launched an insurgency that has killed thousands of civilians.

In recent months, the militants appear to be gaining strength. The group has taken over the port of Kismayo, Somalia's third-largest city, and dismantled pro-government roadblocks. They also effectively closed the Mogadishu airport by threatening to attack any plane using it.

[Mayabird]

On the one hand, good on the Sudanese of Alliance 149 for trying to fix that. On the other, we all know that Somalia isn't a real country outside the Somaliland area, which is only recognized by the Somalilanders and me; the rest is just a shithole of piracy, anarchy and barbarism.

[xt828]

On the one hand, good on the Sudanese of Alliance 149 for trying to fix that. On the other, we all know that Somalia isn't a real country outside the Somaliland area, which is only recognized by the Somalilanders and me; the rest is just a shithole of piracy, anarchy and barbarism.

And another vote for the international recognition of Somaliland.

It's almost a pity that the Islamic Courts Union splintered, as the moderate courts outweighed and outnumbered the extremist ones, and if they'd consolidated a hold could have pressured them into moderation.

[Marcus Aurelius]

On the one hand, good on the Sudanese of Alliance 149 for trying to fix that. On the other, we all know that Somalia isn't a real country outside the Somaliland area, which is only recognized by the Somalilanders and me; the rest is just a shithole of piracy, anarchy and barbarism.

And another vote for the international recognition of Somaliland.

There are many individuals and non-governmental organizations who believe that Somaliland should be recognized, but so far governments have been wary of the potential international consequences. Since there is very little to be gained by recognizing Somaliland, it is simply safer for governments to ignore it for the time being. Nevertheless, if the status quo in other parts of Somalia continues very much longer and Somaliland manages to stay out of the mess, I think that at some point governments will start to change their position, but in the worst case scenario it might take a couple of decades.