the sudanese people were shocked by the brutal death of Awdeia Ajabana after she was shot inside her own home in Aldeam Neighborhood, Al Khartoum city. Her murder serves as a harsh reminder of the vast struggle women still face in attaining dignity and human rights in Sudan and across the region.
On the 5th of March 2012, the 39 year old woman was shot in the head by the notorious Sudanese Public Order Police who have become specialists in terrorizing women. Awadeia was killed while arguing with the Public Order Police who were accusing her brother who was sitting at the steps of their front door at home of abusing alcohol. Her brother, in his twenties, was talking on the phone when they started to assault him. Neither Awdeia nor any of her family members (women and children) who were inside the house were armed when she and other family members ( including her mother) were shot
Ajabnah’s incident is not the first of its kind, but there are many crimes which have recurred at the hands of the notorious Sudanese Public Order Police who carry weapons and abuse it and each time the offender escapes the justice.
This incident reminds us of the video girl who was brutally whipped by Sudanese Public Order Police and we did not hear any formal apology to the families of the victims and no one brought to justice, so these practices became rampant phenomenon and weapons have been abused by police for personal interests.
he Sudanese criminal code and abolish the Public Order Regime in particular the state based public order laws and articles 151 152, 154,156, of the criminal code that emphasise restrictions on women’s dress, conduct and manner of social interaction and allow the Public Order Police unlimited authority that often leads to the violent and humiliating persecution of women such as through public lashings.
Two years ago Nadia Saboon, a tea seller in central Khartoum market, fell onto a metal stake in the street while fleeing a sweep by the public order police in central Khartoum against street venders. She bled to death on the main road. Today the public order police are killing women inside their own homes, this is a one-sided battle where the Public Order Police’s exploitation of power, violence and aggression directly targets women.
