Female University Students Attacked in Khartoum

June 19, 2009

According to a June 15th report from Khartoum, National Congress Party members were dressed as females to infiltrate a legal discussion led by women students from the University of Khartoum concerning their support for the  ICC arrest warrant issued for President Omar Al-Bashir.

The Sudan Human Rights Organization (SHRO) based in Cairo reported that the disguised party members violently attacked the women students during the discussion after the NCP members entered into the meeting unchecked. This is not the first time that such violence has been reported: similar violent attacks against ICC supporters have been occurring since the issuing of the warrant in March.
 
Under law, women are supposed to have the right to freedom of expression and peaceful assembly on campus. However, security forces and the NCP have been violating such rights if a meeting or an assembly is in regards to the ICC or the warrant.

 SHRO has stated that they link this violence "with the permanent orders the President of the State and the NIF/NCP ruling party instigated to be forcibly executed by the Security and Intelligence Department against all citizens who spoke favorably for the ICC warrant of arrest.”
 
Damanga is extremely upset by this news and agrees with SHRO that these attacks are ultimately President Bashir’s personal efforts to “silence all comments on the international prosecution and the warrant of arrest issued against him by the ICC.”

Damanga urges the Sudanese government to abide by their own stated laws and allow freedom of assembly and expression even if it reflects the government unfavorably. Such violent attacks should not go unrecognized by the international community as well: the NCP and other violence perpetrators must be prosecuted under criminal law for their actions.