Lubna Ahmed al-Hussein is a
Sudanese Muslim, media worker and activist who came to international attention in July 2009, when she was prosecuted for wearing trousers. Her case became a ''
cause célèbre
A cause célèbre (,''Collins English Dictionary – Complete and Unabridged'', 12th Edition, 2014. S.v. "cause célèbre". Retrieved November 30, 2018 from https://www.thefreedictionary.com/cause+c%c3%a9l%c3%a8bre ,''Random House Kernerman Webs ...
'', with organisations such as the
Arabic Network for Human Rights Information
The Arabic Network for Human Rights Information (ANHRI) was a non-governmental organization devoted to promoting freedom of expression across the Middle East and North Africa. It was founded in the year 2004. Based in Cairo, Egypt, the organization ...
and
Amnesty International issuing statements in support.
Journalist
Al-Hussein is a journalist who, at the time of her 2009 arrest, worked for the media department of the
United Nations Mission in Sudan
The United Nations Mission in the Sudan (UNMIS) was established by the UN Security Council under Resolution 1590 of 24 March 2005, in response to the signing of the Comprehensive Peace Agreement between the government of the Sudan and the Sudan ...
.
She was known for her public criticism of the
government of Sudan
Government of Sudan is the federal provisional government created by the constitution of Sudan having the executive, parliament, and the judiciary. Previously, a ''president'' was head of state, head of government, and commander-in-chief of t ...
's treatment of women.
Trousers case
Background
In 2009, the
legal system of the country was based on Islamic law (
sharia), and permitted
judicial corporal punishment
The judiciary (also known as the judicial system, judicature, judicial branch, judiciative branch, and court or judiciary system) is the system of courts that adjudicates legal disputes/disagreements and interprets, defends, and applies the law ...
such as
flagellation
Flagellation (Latin , 'whip'), flogging or whipping is the act of beating the human body with special implements such as whips, rods, switches, the cat o' nine tails, the sjambok, the knout, etc. Typically, flogging has been imposed on ...
. The
criminal law of the time prohibited dressing indecently in public, a charge which carried a punishment of 40 lashes and a fine. According to the director of police, in 2008 in
Khartoum State
Khartoum State ( ar, ولاية الخرطوم, Wilāyat al-Kharṭūm) is one of the eighteen states of Sudan. Although it is the smallest state by area (22,142 km2), it is the most populous (5,274,321 in 2008 census). It contains the coun ...
alone, over 40 000 women were arrested for clothing offences; it is not known how many were convicted or flogged.
Article 152
The full text of Article 152 in the Memorandum to the 1991 Penal Code is:
:152 Obscene and Indecent Acts
:(1) Whoever does in a public place an indecent act or an act contrary to public morals or wears an obscene outfit or contrary to public morals or causing an annoyance to public feelings shall be punished with flogging which may not exceed forty lashes or with fine or with both.
:(2) The act shall be contrary to public morals if it is regarded as such according to the standard of the person's religion or the custom of the country where the act takes place.
Arrest
On 3 July 2009, the Public Order Police entered the Kawkab Elsharq Hall, looking for any women and girls wearing trousers.
Al-Hussein — who had come to book a cousin's wedding party and was watching an Egyptian singer and sipped a coke while she waited — was arrested with twelve other women.
Ten of them pleaded guilty immediately, were given ten lashes each, and released. Hussein and two other women refused this offer and insisted on a trial.
Between the arrest and the trial, Hussein began to publicize the case by printing 500 invitation cards and sending emails with the subject line "Sudanese journalist Lubna invites you again to her flogging tomorrow".
Hussein has used her legal battle as a public platform for attacking article 152, on the grounds that the way it is applied in the Sudan is neither constitutionally, nor dogmatically allowed by Shariah law. Her efforts have led to a public show of solidarity by women in the region, but also violence by Islamic extremists.
Appearances in court
When the case came to trial, the judge offered to dismiss it, pointing out that she enjoyed
immunity from prosecution
Legal immunity, or immunity from prosecution, is a legal status wherein an individual or entity cannot be held liable for a violation of the law, in order to facilitate societal aims that outweigh the value of imposing liability in such cases. Su ...
thanks to her
United Nations
The United Nations (UN) is an intergovernmental organization whose stated purposes are to maintain international peace and security, develop friendly relations among nations, achieve international cooperation, and be a centre for harmoniz ...
job. Al-Hussein stated that she wished to resign her job, and test the law. If found guilty, she declared her intent to appeal her case to the upper court and even the constitutional court, in an effort to change the law.
In Al-Hussein's second appearance in court, on 4 August, the judge again postponed her case, this time for a month, saying he wanted to get advice about whether she was immune from prosecution or not. Outside the courtroom, police fired
tear gas
Tear gas, also known as a lachrymator agent or lachrymator (), sometimes colloquially known as "mace" after the early commercial aerosol, is a chemical weapon that stimulates the nerves of the lacrimal gland in the eye to produce tears. In ...
at trouser-clad protesters.
Ban Ki-moon, the
UN Secretary-General
The secretary-general of the United Nations (UNSG or SG) is the chief administrative officer of the United Nations and head of the United Nations Secretariat, one of the six principal organs of the United Nations.
The role of the secretary- ...
, stated his concern about the punishment she faces.
On 7 September she was found guilty and fined 500
Sudanese pound
The Sudanese pound (Arabic: ; abbreviation: LS in Latin, in Arabic, historically also £Sd; ISO code: SDG) is the currency of the Republic of the Sudan. The pound is divided into 100 piastres (or ''qirsh'' () in Arabic). It is issued by th ...
s, but not sentenced to flogging. She stated that she intended not to pay, and was prepared to face a month in jail instead.
This third appearance again featured diplomats and human rights workers observing the case in court, and protesters outside. Journalists counted about 150 of the latter, who were heckled by a smaller number of counter-protesters and beaten by
riot police
Riot police are police who are organized, deployed, trained or equipped to confront crowds, protests or riots.
Riot police may be regular police who act in the role of riot police in particular situations or they may be separate units organize ...
. At least 40 protesters were arrested and released on bail.
International media
When Hussein tried to fly to
Lebanon
Lebanon ( , ar, لُبْنَان, translit=lubnān, ), officially the Republic of Lebanon () or the Lebanese Republic, is a country in Western Asia. It is located between Syria to Lebanon–Syria border, the north and east and Israel to Blue ...
in early August 2009 for an interview about her case, the Sudanese authorities prevented her from leaving the country.
Outside Sudan, support for her case developed slowly, despite her intimate knowledge of how the media works and her international contacts. The
BBC #REDIRECT BBC #REDIRECT BBC
Here i going to introduce about the best teacher of my life b BALAJI sir. He is the precious gift that I got befor 2yrs . How has helped and thought all the concept and made my success in the 10th board exam. ...
...
'' discussed the extent to which the case had been ignored by British feminists.
for women's rights in Sudan.
Hussein, who considers herself to be a good Muslim and was wearing loose-fitting pants covered by a long blouse, contends that the case "is not about religion, it is about men treating women badly." She stated that she wanted to change the law on behalf of all the women of Sudan.
She argued that Article 152, which allows the flogging or fining of anyone who "violates public morality or wears indecent clothing" without defining "indecent clothing", itself violates both the 2005 Interim
(AI) released a statement asking the Sudanese government to repeal Article 152 and drop the charges against her. AI stated that the
"ordered Sudan to amend Article 152 on the grounds that flogging amounted to state-sanctioned torture" in 2003.
According to an article in ''
'', this case encouraged disparate activists, from NGOs to opposition politicians, to cooperate with one another in their efforts to change the law.
Hussein and her two colleagues' insistence on going to trial in the trousers case inspired the creation of the
(FFC) declaration on 1 January 2019.
The No to Oppression against Women Initiative directly and indirectly, via the FFC, contributed to the
.
, Ihsan Fagiri, on behalf of the No to Oppression against Women Initiative, protested against the men-only nature of the
commission created in October 2019. She stated that, as many women had been killed or thrown dead into the Nile, 70 women and men had been raped,
and three women rape victims had committed suicide after the massacre, women should be represented as commission members.