UL: In 2009 Lubna Ahmad al-Hussein lit a metaphorical bonfire in Sudan, inviting 500 journalists, including AnneofCarversville.com, to her flogging. LL: Angelina Jolie in Sudan in 2017 scouting locations for a movie about Sudan’s history. UP: Woman protester in Khartoum, via BBC News.LR: 22-year-old Alaa Salah in Khartoum, April 2019 rallying the crowd of protesters. Image by local photographer Lana Haroun.

AOC’s Return to Sudan

In 2015 I backed away from my active, on-the-ground engagement with the women of Sudan. An epic falling out between myself and the Sudanese activist for whom I had gotten asylum here in America, cut all my ties to the local activism in Khartoum. My innocent comment — filled with praise but with one tiny observation of a habit that was constantly sabotaging him — resulted in a massive insult to his African man status by a Western woman. To this day — January 3, 2021 — over six years later, he has never spoken to me again.

Yes, Lubna Hussein had long ago left Sudan and was now living in Canada, as I greeted the New Year of 2015. The woman — Lubna Ahmad al-Hussein — who lit a torch of refusal in Khartoum, inviting 500 journalists to her flogging for wearing trousers in public, corroborated my immigration-asylum-proceedings testimony as we kept our colleague from being deported to certain imprisonment and perhaps death in Sudan.

My memories of the pain and complexity of those days — coupled with the brutal flogging of women in Sudan over the issue of modesty — was reignited this week by the announcement of rising model Halima Aden that she was leaving “runway fashion” or the “world of fashion” over our industry’s refusal to honor her Muslim modesty.

Modesty Continues to Obsess Minds Worldwide and in America

Halima Aden Covers ELLE Singapore November; Denounces Fashion on Social Media; Enters Miss Universe Pageant AOC Fashion

I admit that I don’t know what all is wrong with these images that upset Halima Aden. I just don’t, and in the midst of the world’s COVID-19 pandemic and supporting the glorious rise of women in Sudan [while I was sleeping at the switch], I won’t be investing any time trying to understand Halima Aden’s grievances. Perhaps Halima should go to law school or nursing school or become a woman imam.

As our industry collapses on multiple fronts and millions of women and men are hungry and facing eviction across America, I doubt that we have the human capacity to give one woman what she requires. I’m more concerned that Halima Aden gets a COVID-19 vaccination, frankly.

Honoring the Torch in Sudan Lit By Lubna Hussein

Modesty is a cudgel against women used by patriarchal-values institutions and organizations and there is no interest here at AOC in understanding their point-of-view. Halima Aden can dress however she wishes, and I recognize that in Sudan she may well have condemned Lubna Hussein and sided with the religious fundamentalists.

Even I had no idea what is wrong with some of her outfits (jeans on her head I understand the insult), but other images showcased by Diet Prada — now that Halima Aden’s Instagram is down — I am clueless and probably would have made the same mistakes myself as a stylist.

Halima Aden’s job is to sell clothes in an industry that is really suffering. Millions of workers worldwide have been laid off, and they are also a key focus. IMO the fashion industry has largely treated Halima Aden very well — as I note in my commentary in the article above — and has truly tried to both listen to and advance her voice in a significant way.

It’s not my role to intercede on behalf of Arab women in any topic or venue, without being invited. AOC has always maintained this premise. But it’s also a fact that given the heroic acts of the women of Sudan in overthrowing the Omar-al-Bashir government in 2019, they need AOC’s help far more than a fashion model, who I’ve supported.

With Republicans trying to overthrow the American government to install Donald Trump as a dictator in my own country — now that the brave women of Khartoum have overthrown their dictator Omar-al-Bashir — protecting any semblance of American democracy is a significantly higher priority at AOC than any list of individual model grievances. Note that AOC will always support the Model Alliance.

Here is a recap of all the important events happening in Sudan over the past 18 months, while Anne obsessed over far less important matters, including the repeal of Sudan’s flogging laws used against women for inappropriate dress and the ending of FGM. That is INCREDIBLE NEWS in my world, and I’m in awe of every Sudanese person who achieved these victories for the nation’s citizens.

United States Removes Sudan from List of State Sponsors of Terrorism

The year 2020 has witnessed major changes as Sudan charts a new path away from the iron fist of Omar al-Bashir, toppled from power in April, 2019. In December the Trump administration removed Sudan from the US list of state sponsors of terrorism. This critical move opens the possibility that Sudan will obtain critical international loans to revive its battered economy.

“The designation dates back to the 1990s, when Sudan briefly hosted al-Qaida leader Osama bin Laden and other wanted militants. Sudan was also believed to have served as a pipeline for Iran to supply weapons to Palestinian militants in the Gaza Strip.” writes the Associated Press.

Sudan also agreed to pay more than $300 million dollars to American victims of the 2000 USS Cole attack and also the 1998 embassy bombings, both linked to Osama bin Laden’s al-Qaida terrorist group.

“This achievement comes with numerous opportunities for Sudan’s development,” tweeted Sudanese Prime Minister Abdalla Hamdok, adding that his country “officially” rejoined the international community as a “peaceful nation supporting global stability” after nearly three-decade of isolation.

"In light of this historic progress ... the United States and Israel agreed to partner with Sudan in its new start and ensure that it is fully integrated into the international community," the White House said. "The United States will take steps to restore Sudan’s sovereign immunity and to engage its international partners to reduce Sudan’s debt burdens."

Seeking Justice for Sudan’s Former President Omar al-Bashir

The ICC’s prosecutor **Fatou Bensouda** gives a press conference in Sudan’s capital Khartoum on October 20, 2020.

In mid-October an International Criminal Court (ICC) delegation arrived in Sudan to discuss the prosecution of the former president, who is wanted by the ICC on charges of genocide, war crimes, and crimes against humanity.

Sudan’s new government has agreed that al-Bashir can stand trial at The Hague. And while the ICC wants to prosecute al-Bashir for crimes against Darfur, Sudan’s peace agreement with South Sudan and some independent rebel groups signed in early September 2020 also contains language about prosecuting the former president. With hopes to end the devastating wars in Darfur, South Kordofan and Blue Nile the new agreement also calls for a commission that will try the former president for war crimes in the region.

Sudan’s Brutal Laws Against Women and Gay Citizens Being Repealed or Reduced

Sudan’s justice minister Nasredeen Abdulbari announced in July 2020 a series of legal changes designed to break significantly with the despotic rule of Omar Hassan al-Bashir. Included in the changes are abolishing the use of public flogging — in particular on women — a cause that AOC has fought hard to end; allowing non-Muslims to consume alcohol; and the scrapping of Sudan’s apostasy law.

The new government also announced in July a decision to lift the death penalty and flogging as punishment for gay sex, a promising sign after four decades of critically harsh laws against gays in Sudan. Gay behavior remains a criminal act, but the punishments are considerably reduced.

Sudan was one of six countries, including Iran, Saudi Arabia, Yemen, Nigeria and Somalia, that imposed the death penalty for gay sex, according to the LGBT+ rights group ILGA.

Under Sudan’s old sodomy law, gay men faced 100 lashes for the first offence, five years in jail for the second and the death penalty with a third offence. The punishments have been reduced to prison terms, ranging from five years to life, writes Reuters.

Fabo Elbaradei, an LGBT+ activist based in Khartoum, Sudan’s capital, welcomed the lifting of the death penalty but stressed the reality that it changes little for gay people in Sudan.

“We are subjected to social discrimination and we face a prison sentence ... for simply being who we are,” he told the Thomson Reuters Foundation in emailed comments.

Abolishing Female Genital Cutting (FGM) in Sudan

In May, the new government moved to ban the genital cutting of women. It’s believed that about 87% of Sudanese women aged 14-49 have undergone some form of FGM, often in a radical form. BBC News reports that the common FGM practice in Sudan is to get the inner and outer labia, and usually the clitoris, cut out.

Sudanese girls are cut because of widespread cultural beliefs that it’s essential to protect girls’ reputations and future marriage proposals. More information about new protections for Sudanese girls at UNICEF.org.