The governor of Sudan's Khartoum state, Mazoub Khalifa, announced a decree banning women in the capitol city of Khartoum from working "in public places where they are in direct contact with men." Kalifa states that the decree, "is to honour women, uphold their lofty status and put them in the appropriate place that respects the values and observes the tradition of our nation." A survey conducted this week in Khartoum found that the decree was observed in public places where women university students worked.
Sudan has long held a less than favorable record on women's human rights that continues with its refusal to ratify the Convention on the Elimination of All Forms of Discrimination Against Women (CEDAW). The country was one of the five countries plus the Vatican that fiercely opposed advancing the Beijing Platform for Action during its five-year review held in June 2000. According to the U.S. Department of State, Sudan serves as a central hub for international terrorist groups including groups formed by Usama Bin Ladin, the Saudi national who remains in Afghanistan as a guest of the extremist Taliban militia. Like Sudan, the Taliban has also imposed a ban on women's employment.
Media Resources: BBC News (http://news.bbc.co.uk) 5 September 2000, Feminist Daily News Wire (http://www.feminist.org) "Taliban Edict Threatens Humanitarian Aid to Millions" 7 August 2000, U.S Department of State Patterns of Global Terrorism 1999.
5/22/2013 Immigration Reform Bill Advances In Senate - Last night, the Senate Judiciary Committee approved a sweeping immigration reform bill in a bipartisan vote of 13 to 5. . . .
5/22/2013 Afghan Women Arrested for 'Moral Crimes' Increases 50% - A new report by the Human Rights Watch shows that in the past 18 months the number of women in Afghanistan incarcerated for 'moral crimes' has increased from 400 to 600, a 50% growth.
Many of the women imprisoned for moral crimes were arrested running away from forced or abusive marriages and families, even though there is no law against leaving. . . .
5/22/2013 Army Commander Suspended for Adultery Amid Wave of Sexual Assaults - On Tuesday, Brigadier General Bryan T Roberts was suspended from his position as commander of the Fort Jackson, South Carolina training camp which trains approximately 60% of incoming female recruits pending an investigation into allegations of adultery.
Roberts was suspended following allegations of "adultery and a physical altercation." Colonel Christian Kubik, an Army spokesperson for the Training and Doctrine Command, told reporters "We don't have any evidence of any sexual assault. . . .
