Names of 24 persons from Darfur sentenced to death by hanging

SOAT

Sudan Organization Against Torture


SOAT Press Release: 29/04/2003


24 sentenced to death by hanging



SOAT has received confirmed reports that on 26 April 2003, 24 people belonging to the Arab tribes of Darfour, were sentence to death by hanging after being convicted of armed robbery (Haraba) under Articles 168 130, 139, 182 and 175, of the 1991 Penal Code, which state that the punishment for armed robbery (harraba) is death and death followed by crucifixion. They were tried in the special court, number 1, in Nyala, in south Darfour province. These men were arrested and charged following the attack on the village of Singita, in Kas district of Darfour, by Arab tribes from the province. The attack took place on 31/12/2002, in which 35 people were killed and 28 were injured and were arrested in March 2003.



The persons who sentence to deaths were as follows:



1- Al Doum Adam Abakar Ali, claimed to be 75 years old (m)

2- Mohamed Omer Suliman Ahmed, claimed to be 71 years old (m)

3- Ahmed Issa Haroon Abd Al Rahman (m)

4- Suliman Al Doum Adam (m)

5- Yaqoub Abd Allah Khair Allah (m)

6- Abakr Aina Jaber (m)

7- Abakr Fadel Mohamed Assil (m)

8- Issa Ahmed Ibrahim Mohamed (m)

9- Zakaria Ahmed Adam Hamidan (m)

10- Zakaria Ahmed Adam Mohamed (m)

11- Ali Omer Mohamed Baraka (m)

12- Mousa Hussain Ahmed Azhaq (m)

13- Abu Al Kassim Omer Adam (m)

14- Al Mahdi Abd Al Jaber Adam (m)

15- Fadel Adam Hamdan (m)

16- Mohamed Issa Haroon Abd Allah (m)

17- Hamed Ahmed Mousa (m)

18- Ahmed Rahma Mohamed Asseil (m)

19- Ismail Saleh Al Tahir Mohamed (m)

20- Al Noor Rahma Mohamed Assil (m)

21- Al Taieb Mohamed Ahmed (m)

22- Abaker Idris Adam (m)

23- Abd Al Rahim Mohamed Abd Allah (m)

24- Al Tahir Ahmed Adam (m)

Three lawyers, Mr. Mossad M. Ali, Ms Thoria Haroun and Mr. Habieb Adam has submitted an appeal against their conviction



One man was fined 5 million Sudanese pound by the special court and one child was sentence to 3 years imprisonment and was referred to a children reform centre.



A further 12 people, including 1 woman, were acquitted by the court. Their names are as follows



1- Hassan Abd Al Rahman Adam (m)

2- Osman Abakr Adam (m)

3- Salieh Abd Al Rasoul Salieh (m)

4- Abu Bakr Abass Idris (m)

5- Maki Younis Al Jazouli (m)

6- Abd Allah Yousief Mohamed (m)

7- Abd Al Gader Jabril Mohamed (m)

8- Mousa Hussain Mousa (m)

9- Naser Obaid Mousa (Omda, leader) (m)

10- Jaieb Al Sheique Dah’ya (m)

11- Abd Al Razique Ahmed Al Tahir (m)

12- Fatima Al Doum Adam (f )

.



The use of the death penalty as a punishment has increased sharply over the last year in Sudan. Almost all of the instances of the death penalty being given as a sentence or actually carried out however, have occurred in the Darfour region of the country.

Since April 2002, 19 men from Darfour have been executed, all of them for the offence of armed robbery (‘harraba’) which, under Sudan’s interpretation of Shari’a law, is punishable by death by hanging or death by hanging followed by crucifixion. Crimes for which individuals have been executed include banditry and bank robbery. In addition, there are at least another 133 people from Darfour who have been sentenced to the death penalty and are awaiting execution. It is notable that death sentences are now being carried out with increasing frequency where before they were handed down by the courts but rarely executed.



Death sentences are meted out by Special Courts unique to Darfour which were established in the North and South of the province in May 2001 to deal with offences such as armed robbery, murder and possession and smuggling of weapons. However, the crime which has most frequently been punished by use of the death penalty over the last year has been that of armed robbery. This crime is dealt with under article 168 of Sudan’s 1991 Penal “



Standards for trials in the Special Courts in Darfour fall far short of international standards: they are headed by two military judges and one civil judge and do not allow legal representation for the accused until the appeal stage of proceedings. Under international human rights standards, people charged with crimes punishable by death are entitled to the strictest observance of fair trial guarantees and to certain additional guarantees. Such guarantees are ignored wholesale by the Special Courts in Darfour, whose procedures and sentences are inconsistent with international human rights law and Sudan's international obligations, in particular under the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights (ICCPR) which Sudan has ratified and the United Nations' Convention against Torture and other Cruel, Inhuman or Degrading Treatment or Punishment (CAT) which the Government of Sudan has signed



SOAT is unconditionally opposed to the death penalty and strongly condemns its use by the Government of Sudan. SOAT is gravely concerned by executions occurring in Darfour, and by the procedures of the Special Courts, which do not comply with international or national standards for fair trials. In its meeting with Sudanese Government officials in March 2002, SOAT highlighted the problem of these Special Courts, emphasizing the fact that they are unconstitutional according to Sudanese law, and urged the Government to prohibit them and abolish the death penalty in the country.



SOAT strongly urges the Government of Sudan to



i) Abolish the death penalty in Sudan

ii) End the use of Special Courts in Darfour

iii) Ensure respect for rights to fair trial and to legal appeal in accordance with international human rights standards, for all detainees throughout Sudan

iv) Guarantee respect for human rights and fundamental freedoms throughout Sudan in accordance with national laws and international human rights standards





The above recommendations should be sent in appeals to the following 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

Dr Ahmed al-Mufti
Advisory Council for Human Rights
PO Box 302
Khartoum, Sudan
Sudan
Fax: + 24911 770883



His Excellency Ambassador Mr. Ibrahim Mirghani Ibrahim,

Permanent Mission of the Republic of Sudan to the United Nations in Geneva,

PO Box 335,

1211 Geneva,

Switzerland,

Fax: +4122 731 26 56,

E-mail: [email protected].



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