Sudan will scrap alcohol and apostasy laws and end flogging
Sudan will allow nonMuslims to consume alcohol, scrap its apostasy law and abolish the use of public flogging as a punishment as its transitional government eases decades of strict Islamist policies.
The moves, announced late Saturday by the justice minister, Nasredeen Abdulbari, are part of a slew of changes introduced under the transitional government as it seeks to break with the rule of
Omar al-Bashir, who was deposed last year after more than three decades in power. The government had already moved to ban the genital cutting of women, a measure that is coming into effect now.
The latest announcement came a week after tens of thousands of people took to the streets despite a coronavirus lockdown demanding faster reform and greater civilian rule as the nation takes baby steps toward democracy.
“As a government, our work is to protect all Sudanese citizens based on the constitution and based on laws that should be consistent with the constitution,” Abdulbari told state television.
The laws being scrapped are legacies of both Bashir and Gaafar al-Nimeiry, an army colonel who led Sudan from 1969-85. In 1983, he imposed Islamic law throughout the nation, precipitating the conflict between the Muslim majority in the north and the mainly Christian and animist south that led to South Sudan’s secession in 2011.
After taking power in 1989, Bashir extended Islamic rule and introduced public-order laws that criminalized many activities and behaviors, including drinking alcohol and wearing revealing clothes for women. Those who contravened the rules faced prison sentences, fines and public lashing. Rights organizations said the laws were “oppressive” and gave authorities extensive powers to make arbitrary arrests, particularly of women.
After Bashir was toppled in April 2019, his government was replaced by an 11-member sovereign council consisting of six civilians and five military leaders, tasked with preparing the country for elections after a three-year transition period.
The council appointed Abdalla Hamdok, an economist who has held several United Nations positions, as prime minister, and his government immediately embarked on an ambitious program as it sought to placate pro-democracy demonstrators and rejoin the international community.
Sudan’s political transition remains delicate, buffeted by economic headwinds and restrictions necessitated by the coronavirus pandemic. Hamdok survived an assassination attempt in March, and concerns of a coup have swirled in recent months.