24 persons are sentenced to death by hanging in Darfour,Sudan

national | miscellaneous | news report Thursday May 01, 2003 08:53 by World Organisation Against Torture - World Organisation Against Torture

The International Secretariat of OMCT requests your URGENT intervention in the following situation in Sudan:on April 26th, 2003, twenty- four people belonging to the Arab tribes of Darfour were sentenced to death by hanging, having been convicted of armed robbery by the Special Court, number 1, in Nyala, south Darfour province. These men were reportedly arrested and charged following an attack on the village of Singita, in the Kas district of Darfour on December 31st, 2002.

Brief description of the situation

The International Secretariat of OMCT has been informed by the Sudanese Organisation against Torture, a member of the OMCT network, of the unfair trials and sentencing to death of twenty-four persons in the Darfour region of Sudan.

According to the information received, on April 26th, 2003, twenty- four people belonging to the Arab tribes of Darfour were sentenced to death by hanging, having been convicted of armed robbery by the Special Court, number 1, in Nyala, south Darfour province. These men were reportedly arrested and charged following an attack on the village of Singita, in the Kas district of Darfour on December 31st, 2002.

The twenty-four men who have been sentenced to death are: Al Doum Adam Abakar Ali, claimed to be 75 years old (m); Mohamed Omer Suliman Ahmed, claimed to be 71 years old (m); Ahmed Issa Haroon Abd Al Rahman (m); Suliman Al Doum Adam (m); Yaqoub Abd Allah Khair Allah (m); Abakr Aina Jaber (m); Abakr Fadel Mohamed Assil (m); Issa Ahmed Ibrahim Mohamed (m); Zakaria Ahmed Adam Hamidan (m); Zakaria Ahmed Adam Mohamed (m); Ali Omer Mohamed Baraka (m); Mousa Hussain Ahmed Azhaq (m); Abu Al Kassim Omer Adam (m); Al Mahdi Abd Al Jaber Adam (m); Fadel Adam Hamdan (m); Mohamed Issa Haroon Abd Allah (m); Hamed Ahmed Mousa (m); Ahmed Rahma Mohamed Asseil (m); Ismail Saleh Al Tahir Mohamed (m); Al Noor Rahma Mohamed Assil (m); Al Taieb Mohamed Ahmed (m); Abaker Idris Adam (m); Abd Al Rahim Mohamed Abd Allah and Al Tahir Ahmed Adam (m). Three lawyers have submitted appeals on behalf of the defendants.

According to the information received, twelve other people, including one woman, were acquitted by the court. One man was fined five million Sudanese pounds and one child was reportedly sentenced to three years imprisonment and referred to a child reform centre.

In the last year there has been a sharp increase in the use of the death penalty as a punishment in Sudan. Almost all cases in which the defendants have been sentenced to death and/or executed have reportedly occurred in the Darfour region of the country. Since April 2002 nineteen men from Darfour have been executed and at least 133 more are awaiting execution. All nineteen men were executed as punishment for armed robbery, which, under the Sudanese interpretation of Shari'a law, is punishable by death by hanging or death by hanging followed by crucifixion.

These Special Courts, which are unique to Darfour, were established in May 2001 to deal with offences such as armed robbery, murder, weapons possession and smuggling. The Special Courts consist of two military judges and one civil judge. Lawyers are usually forbidden to stand before the Special Court and plaintiffs are given the right to appeal only when sentenced to death or amputation. Under such circumstances, the appeal must be made within seven days of the sentence to the District Chief of Justice, whose decision is final. According to the information received, the Sudanese Minister of Justice has publicly admitted that the Special Courts are not following correct judicial procedures. Fair trial guarantees ensured by international human rights standards are therefore ignored by the Special Courts. In the last year, the crime most frequently resulting in death sentences has been armed robbery.

While OMCT welcomes the acquittal of twelve persons in this case, it remains gravely concerned for the physical and psychological integrity of the twenty-four persons that have been sentenced to death, not only because there are concerns that these sentences may be carried out despite having resulted from unfair trials, but also because the detainees risk being subjected to ill-treatment or torture during their detention, as such practices have been documented by OMCT on numerous occasions in the recent past in Darfour.

OMCT is particularly concerned by the recent increase in the use of the death penalty as a punishment in Sudan. OMCT stresses that it is strongly opposed to the death penalty as an extreme form of cruel, inhuman and degrading treatment and a violation of the right to life, as proclaimed in the Universal Declaration of Human Rights and other international human rights instruments. OMCT is gravely concerned that the Special Courts that are trying these cases do not allow for fair trials. OMCT recalls that the procedures and sentences of the Special Courts are inconsistent with international human rights law under the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights (ICCPR) that Sudan has ratified, and the United Nations' Convention against Torture and other Cruel, Inhuman or Degrading Treatment of Punishment (CAT) that the Government of Sudan has signed.

OMCT therefore calls on the Sudanese government to: immediately repeal the death sentences in question and; release the detainees in the absence of valid charges against them, which are in line with international law or, if such charges exist, to re-try the defendants before a competent and impartial tribunal, while respecting their procedural rights at all times, in accordance with the internationally recognized standards of fair trial.

Separately, OMCT deeply regrets the lack of a resolution on Sudan during the 59th session of the UN Commission on Human Rights, which brings about the end to UN human rights monitoring in the country, at a time when massive and widespread violations of human rights continue unabated.

Action requested

Please write to the authorities in Sudan urging them to:

i. guarantee the physical and psychological integrity of the 24 persons that have been sentenced to death in Darfour on April 26th, 2003;

ii. immediately repeal these death sentences ;

iii. order that the afore-mentioned persons be released immediately in the absence of valid legal charges or, if such charges exist, bring them before an impartial and competent tribunal and guarantee their procedural rights at all times;

iv. prohibit the use of Special Courts in Darfour, as they fail to comply with national judicial procedures or internationally recognised fair trial standards and guarantees;

v. guarantee the respect of human rights and the fundamental freedoms throughout the country in accordance with international human rights standards.

Addresses

· His Excellency Lieutenant General Omar Hassan al-Bashir, President of the Republic of Sudan, President's Palace, PO Box 281, Khartoum, Sudan. Fax: + 24911 783223

· Mr. Ali Mohamed Osman Yassin, Minister of Justice and Attorney General, Ministry of Justice, Khartoum, Sudan. Fax: +24911 788941

· Mr. Mustafa Osman Ismail, Minister of Foreign Affairs, Ministry of Foreign Affairs, PO Box 873, Khartoum, Sudan. Fax: +24911 779383

· Mr. Yasir Sid Ahmed, Advisory Council for Human Rights, PO Box 302, Khartoum, Sudan. Fax: + 24911 779173

· His Excellency Ambassador Mr Ibrahim Mirghani Ibrahim, Permanent Mission of Sudan to the United Nations in Geneva, PO Box 335, 1211 Geneva, Switzerland, Fax: +4122 7312656. E-mail: mission.sudan@ties.itu.int

Please also write to the embassies of Sudan in your respective country.

Kindly inform us of any action undertaken quoting the code of this appeal in your reply.