Sudan gender violence official charged with ‘Crimes Against the State’

Human rights activists, women’s groups, and lawyers in Sudan have reacted angrily, after a complaint was opened with the Prosecution of Crimes Against the State against Salma Ishaq, the government official in charge of combating violence against women.

Sources told Radio Dabanga that the complaint was laid with the Crimes Against the State Prosecution by ‘a component of government’, believed to be the Sovereignty Council. The basis for the complaint is reportedly in reaction to remarks by the Special Representative of the UN Secretary General (STSG) for Sudan, and head of the UN Integrated Transition Assistance Mission in Sudan (UNITAMS), Volker Perthes, when he briefed the UN Security Council (UNSC) on March 28, about Sudan’s deteriorating economic, humanitarian, and security situation.

Among his remarks stating that “the situation in Sudan has not improved”, Perthes pointed out to the UNSC that 16 women have been reportedly raped during public pro-democracy protests in Khartoum.

Perthes’s remarks prompted the head of Sudan’s Sovereignty Council, Gen Abdelfattah El Burhan, to threaten to expel him from Sudan, accusing him of “overstepping the mandate of the UN mission” and interfering in Sudanese affairs.

In a statement on Sunday, the Women’s Council of the opposition National Umma Party condemned the arrest of Salma Ishaq, and confirmed its concern with monitoring all repressive measures and attacks against women.