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By Mohamed Ali Saeed KHARTOUM (AFP) - A recent government ban on women working in gas stations and restaurants met fierce opposition Wednesday from rights groups and political and union organizations, condemning it as unconstitutional. The General Women's Association (GWA), the General Sudan Workers Trade Unions Federation (GSWTUF), the National Alliance for Restoration of Democracy (NARD) and the Sudan Group for Human Rights (SGHR) Wednesday issued statements decrying the ban imposed in Khartoum State by its Governor Majzoub al-Khalifa Ahmed. "The decision contradicts the Sudan Constitution which prohibits all forms of discrimination against women and violates the UN Declaration for Elimination of Discrimination against Women," said a statement issued jointly by NARD and SGHR, which are both chaired by human rights activist-lawyer Ghazli Suleiman. Suleiman said that he would lodge an objection to this "unconstitutional and unlawful decision" with the constitutional court. He said he had already notified UN Human Rights Commissioner in Geneva Mary Robinson of this "anti-human rights decision" by the Khartoum State Governor. The NARD-SGHR statement appealed to international organizations concerned with human rights to write petitions to the Sudanese head of state, the justice and manpower ministers, and the Khartoum Governor for the abrogation of the order. Suleiman said he expected the decision would cause "an embarrassment" to President Omar al-Beshir, who is currently in New York for the Millennium Summit, and would be "a fatal blow to Sudan's efforts to rejoin the international community." The Workers Federation also issued a statement signed by its President TaJ el-Sir Abdoun, deploring the decision which it said denied "the woman's right to work as guaranteed by the Constitution." In a statement signed by its Chairperson Rajaa Hassan Khalifa, the pro-government GWA expressed its "total" rejection of the order banning women from working in gas stations, restaurants, hotels and cafeterias, also condemning it as "a violation" of the Constitution. It said that at an emergency meeting held Tuesday night the association decided to send the governor a memorandum, demanding that the order be rescinded. The opposition Democratic Women's Alliance, DWA, also deplored the decision as "a further step by the government for discrimination against women and a prelude to removing them from all fields of public work," according to its leader Mahasin Abdel A'al.
"The Governor should have asked himself why a girl holding a university degree chooses such a job if she is not forced to," said the feminist leader. "The Governor has never known any form of suffering and is unaware of the level of poverty and suffering the Sudanese people have reached," charged angry cafeteria waitress Mona Ahmed Abdallah. She said her father is dead, and she is divorced with a child, an old mother and five younger brothers and sisters to earn a living for. "Although I have a high school certificate, I looked for a job for a long time and at last I ended up in this cafeteria to keep up myself and my family," said the 25-year-old. Maha Omar, 24, said she is the eldest of her family of seven brothers and sisters with a pensioner father and an old mother and she found a job at a gas station to provide a living for her family. "I cannot see anything wrong with this honest job as a way of earning a living for myself and for my family," said Miss Omar, challenging the Governor to find honorable jobs for thousands of women now taking jobs which "he wrongly believes are not in line with Islamic values". She warned that if this decision is put into effect "the consequences will be grave as a woman has to secure food and other necessities for herself and for her dependents." |
Mrs. Abdel A'al told reporters the Governor had not taken into account the economic and social circumstances of the girls who had to take up those jobs.
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