Jalila Khamis Koko

Jalila Khamis Koko (also Jalila Khamis Kuku) is a Sudanese teacher and activist. In March 2012, she was detained by the Sudanese National Intelligence and Security Service (NISS) and accused of treason. After a 10-month detainment, she was released in January 2013.

Personal life Jalila Khamis was born around 1968 in South Kordofan the Nuba Mountain region of Sudan and is of Nubian ethnicity. Since the mid-1980s, except for a brief six-year period between 2005 and 2011, conflict has plagued the area of the Nuba Mountains. Less well-known than Darfur, partly due to the remoteness of the region and difficulty in accessing it, the conflict is Africa's longest running war.

She resides with her husband and five children, Concerned because the local children had to travel long distances to school, she obtained the necessary documents for opening a village school. Khamis then organized donations for construction and supplies and was successful in recruiting teachers from Khartoum. Khamis turned her home in Khartoum into a temporary safe house for those fleeing the conflict In January, 2013, she was released and the court acknowledged there was "no basis for the charges against her". Khamis was convicted of the sole charge of "spreading false news" and sentenced to time served.

Legacy Kahmis' story spawned reports in the region focusing on violence against women and the Egyptian media producer OnTV ran an entire segment on the Sudanese humanitarian crisis. Activists and youth movement leaders recognized the impact that a digital campaign could have, in spite of warnings from lawyers that media attention would damage the case.