Lubna & Her Pants

by Michelle . · 2009-09-08 18:09:00 UTC
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How many people would argue against being freed from prison?

Sudanese journalist Lubna Hussein became an international media sensation after her arrest in Khartoum on spuriously-enforced decency laws that prohibit women from wearing pants. She refused to pay a fine -- a light sentence, compared to the 40 lashes she was facing -- and was sent to jail, only to be forcibly released after a journalist union paid the fine for her.

"I am also not happy because there are more than 700 women still in the prison who have got no one to pay for them," she said after her release.

If only more people had such tenacity.

Hussein continues to use her spotlight to expose the systematic violation of human rights that have become the government's modus operandi -- which range from the fashion police to the frequent harassment and disappearance of activists and opposition politicians -- despite peace treaty provisions intended to guide the country towards democratic transformation.

Indeed, as Hussein wrote in The Guardian last week, the government's flouting of basic human rights has not only embroiled the country in multiple regional conflicts -- the south, the east, Darfur -- but is set to thwart the success of what should be the country's first free elections and memory, and generally prevents the fulfillment of Sudan's "great potential."

Sudanese politics may be a complicated matter, but the crux of so many of the country's challenges is the perpetuation, be it self- or externally-supported, of a central regime that lacks respect for even the most fundamental of individual rights. And yet, the issue of human rights is shoved aside by a short-sighted (or self-interested) international community that favors accommodation of this center, apparently not recognizing that the tolerated behaviors are major roadblocks on the path towards stability.

Hussein's stand is not a one-off call for anti-discrimination, but an exposé of a deeply entrenched system of abuse that has profound implications for peace and prosperity in Sudan.

[Photo of Lubna Hussein, REUTERS/Mohamed Nureldin Abdallah.]

Michelle . has been involved in various activist endeavors, including the Teach Against Genocide pilot campaigns.
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