PRESS RELEASE

The World Organisation Against Torture (OMCT) expresses its concern
regarding violence against girls in Sudan at the Thirty-first Session
of the Committee on the Rights of the Child

Geneva, 23 September 2002

The World Organisation Against Torture (OMCT) welcomes the
examination by the UN Committee on the Rights of the Child of Sudan's
implementation of the Convention on the Rights of the Child on 24
September 2002. In its alternative country report entitled "Violence
against Girls in Sudan ", which has been submitted to the Committee
on the Rights of the Child, OMCT expresses its grave concern at the
widespread violence against girls in the private and community
spheres as well as at the hands of state officials.

Despite Sudan's Constitution and its ratification of international
and regional human rights instruments which prohibit discrimination
on the basis of sex, the subordination of women and girls continues
to be part of the law and customs which are strongly based in male
dominance. Illustrative is the fact that women in Sudan have
throughout their lives a guardian: before marriage a close male
relative and after marriage her husband. The subordinate position of
girls and women compared with men has led to violence against women,
and violence against women has proven to be an essential mechanism by
which girls and women are forced into a subordinate position.

Girls in Sudan, because they are married off at a very young age (as
young as ten years old), are particularly vulnerable to domestic
violence. Also the payment of bride price, which has become more and
more commercialised and is strongly related to early marriages, may
have the effect of increasing the vulnerability of girls to violence
at the hands of their husbands and parents-in-law, as it may be felt
that the husband and his family have "purchased" the wife and may
therefore treat her in whichever way they see fit.

In the report, OMCT also expresses its serious concerns about the
widespread practice of female genital mutilation in Sudan, which
violates the right to life, physical integrity, and the right to
health of girls. It is estimated that 89.2% of the women and girls in
Sudan have undergone FGM and that 82% of women have undergone
infibulation, the most severe form of FGM. Infibulation involves the
amputation of the clitoris, the labial minora are shaved off and
incisions are made in the labia majora to create raw surfaces. These
edges of the labia majora are brought together and made to fuse using
thorns, poultices or stitching, and the girl's legs are tied together
for two to six weeks. The healed scar creates a "hood of skin" which
covers the urethra and parts or most of the vagina and acts as a
physical barrier to intercourse. As a result of dirty razors and un-
sterile needles and stitching, HIV-infection has become also
substantial problem in Sudan. Moreover, recent statistics show that
the maternal mortality rate is over 550 per 100,000 of childbirths,
with one of the main causes of this high maternity mortality rate
being female genital mutilation and its complications.

In its report, OMCT also expresses concern over the adverse impact of
the ongoing armed conflict on the human rights situation in the
country, and in particular on the rights of women and children.
According to various reports, abduction and slavery continue to be
practiced by all parties to the civil war in Sudan. After abduction,
many of the girls become victims of rape, forced pregnancy and other
human rights violations. Girls who are left orphaned by the civil war
are particularly at risk of becoming victims of the slave trade in
Sudan and they are often forced into prostitution.

OMCT also expresses deep concern at the extent of the use of the most
cruel forms of corporal punishment in contradiction with human rights
norms and standards. Women and girls in Sudan are particularly
vulnerable to such punishments. For example, due to evidentiary
requirements, women and girls are at greater risk than men for being
convicted for adultery for which penalties vary from stoning to death
to flogging.

Overall, OMCT's report concludes that while Sudan has a duty under
international law to act with due diligence to prevent, investigate,
prosecute and punish all forms of violence against girls,
irrespective of whether this violence is committed by public or
private individuals, this obligation has not been adequately
implemented at the national level.

For copies of the alternative report on violence against girls in
Sudan or for further information on OMCT's programme on Violence
against Women please contact Joanna Bourke-Martignoni on + 41 22 809
4939 or [email protected].
Organisation Mondiale Contre la Torture (OMCT)
World Organisation Against Torture (OMCT)
Organización Mundial Contra la Tortura (OMCT)
8 rue du Vieux-Billard
Case postale 21
CH-1211 Geneve 8
Suisse/Switzerland
Tel. : 0041 22 809 49 39
Fax : 0041 22 809 49 29
E-mail : [email protected]
http://www.omct.org