From an article by Sam Smith, in the Christian Post:
A Sudanese court has fined three Christian girls on charges of “immoral dress” for wearing slacks and skirts on their way home from a Baptist church function in June, while it found four other girls who were wearing similar clothing innocent of the charges, the advocacy group Christian Solidarity Worldwide has reported. During their apprehension, 10 girls from the church were forced to strip naked in front of police who inspected their clothing for compliance with Shariah law.
All seven girls were among a group of 12 Christian females who were arrested on June 25 while on their way home from a service at El Izba Baptist Church in Khartoum simply because they were wearing trousers and skirts, which police deemed to be immoral dress.
Two of the girls were released from police custody without charges, while the remaining 10 were forced by authorities to strip out of their clothes and later charged with indecent dress under Article 152 of the Sudanese Criminal Code. Advocates for the girls said they range in age from teens younger than 18 to early 20s.
Faith McDonnell, director of religious liberty programs at the U.S.-based Institute on Religion & Democracy, told CP that these girls should have never been arrested.
“While we were happy to hear that four of the young Christian women were found innocent, it is very disturbing that … three [women], who were similarly dressed, were fined for indecency and another is still awaiting trial. [And secondly,] that they were arrested in the first place,” McDonnell wrote in a statement.
McDonnell previously told CP that Sudan’s constitution states Christians should not be forced to follow indecent dress laws because it is an aspect of Islamic law.
“But as Christians, they are supposed to, under the constitution, have a right to dress the way they want and not according to Shariah,” McDonnell said. “Shariah is not supposed to apply to the Christians, but more and more it is being used against them. Some were wearing skirts, so I don’t know what they consider immoral.”
McDonnell continued by saying that this incident is even more proof that the Khartoum government is targeting Christians and restricting religious liberty to minorities.
“This incident is just another example of the Khartoum regime’s ongoing harassment of Christians when they are not outright persecuting them. It is an intimidation tactic of the Islamic regime to try to discourage Christians from attending church,” McDonnell asserted. “After all, ICC-indicted war criminal President Omar al Bashir has declared that there is no room for Christianity in this Shariah-dominated country. In addition, it is not a coincidence that these are Nuba girls and women of African ethnicity — part of the community of Sudanese marginalized by the racist Arabist regime.”
Read the rest here.
No comments yet
