In the month of December, in Khartoum, there was the very public case of a woman being flogged because of her clothing. A policeman felt that she was dressed indecently. Normally this is done in a court, and is somewhat hidden. This was very shocking. There was in fact a video of it on YouTube. Human rights militants in the Sudan, including Amnesty International, denounced that flogging.
Some women, among them members of the organizations we support, went before the Department of Justice with their proposals, their requests for legal reform and their demands. They asked to meet with government representatives to discuss that and asked that the people who did this be the object of legal action or be reprimanded in some way. All of these women were arrested. Finally they were released without having to pay a fine, but the message was clear.
A few days later, President al-Bashir spoke out on this. He said that Shari'ah law was going to be strictly applied, and that those who questioned his decision would do better to question their faith to ensure that they were true believers.
So, the stakes are high, but efforts are being made to communicate with elected representatives, with the government, basically. We are trying to set up a dialogue, but it is probably an attempt that falls on deaf ears, or meets with replies that are expected and predictable, but nevertheless shocking.