Sudan's military rulers step up crackdown, arrest activists
ABC News
Scores of activists and pro-democracy protesters are in jail in Sudan for opposing a military takeover in October
CAIRO -- Amira Osman, a Sudanese women's rights activist, was getting ready for bed a few minutes before midnight when about 30 policemen forced their way into her home in Khartoum last month.
The men, many in plainclothes and armed with Kalashnikov rifles, pistols and batons, banged on her bathroom door, ignoring her mother's pleas to at least allow her to get dressed before they took her away.
“It was like they were engaging in a battle or chasing a dangerous terrorist, not a disabled woman," said Osman’s sister, Amani, a rights lawyer.
Osman, who uses crutches since a 2017 accident, was imprisoned twice under Sudan's former autocratic President Omar al-Bashir for violating strict Islamic laws governing women's behavior and dress. This time, she was detained for speaking out against military rule.
