Catholic Information Service for Africa (Nairobi)
19 August 2008
Khartoum — A special anti-terrorism court has sentenced another eight people to death, sparking anger from an international human rights organization which said the trials were a sham.
The Court for Combating Terrorism headed by Judge Muddathir Al-Rashid on Sunday sentenced to death Abdul-Aziz Nur Ushar, and seven others of the Darfur-based Justice and Equality Movement (JEM) after being convicted of involvement in an anti-government attack in May. The state news agency said Abdul-Aziz Nur Ushar is half-brother of the leader of JEM, Dr. Khalil Ibrahim.
On Monday, Amnesty International said the trials failed to meet international standards of fairness. The verdict takes the number of individuals sentenced to death in relation to the May 10 attack to 38.
Amnesty also accused the Sudanese government of holding hundreds of people - including women and a nine-year-old - without charge or access to lawyers as they prepare to try another 109 in "sham courts" over the terrorist attack.
The fate and whereabouts of most of those still held in Khartoum over the attacks remain unknown. Many are still unaccounted for and Amnesty said it has received reports of torture and ill-treatment from people who were released.
"Sudan's Anti-Terrorism Special Courts are nothing but a travesty of justice," said Tawanda Hondora, Africa Deputy Director at Amnesty. "Some of the people sentenced [Sunday] only met their lawyers for the first time during the trial, while several said they suffered torture when they were held incommunicado and that they were forced to confess to crimes."
"Those trials were clearly unfair and now Sudan is preparing to try yet more people with this system. How is that justice?" said Tawanda Hondora.
One of the lawyers of those convicted told Amnesty that his request for an investigation into the allegations of torture and ill-treatment by his client was rejected by the court - including an appeal for a medical examination despite the fact that "marks of ill-treatment were still clearly visible on their bodies" when the accused were facing the judge.
The defence lawyers have appealed all the verdicts within the limited period allowed by the Special Courts. The final decision - expected to come in the next weeks - has to be taken by a Special Court of Appeal. Thereafter, the President will have to sign the decision for the executions to be carried out.
"The Sudanese government has the duty to investigate crimes and bring the perpetrators to justice but they must do it in accordance to international law and their own constitution, which guarantees fair trials," said Tawanda Hondora. "We urge the Sudanese authorities not to execute these men and to review their cases immediately, according to Sudan's laws."
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