Rights group decries "inhumane" sentences

Special "emergency courts" established in 2001 in Sudan are being used to impose inhumane sentences such as death by stoning and amputations, Human Rights Watch (HRW) said on Friday 1 February. "These recent sentences from the Sudan judicial system are nothing short of inhumane," Jemera Rone, Sudan researcher for HRW said in a statement. According to HRW, "emergency tribunals" were set up in 2001 under the state of emergency, originally declared in December 1999 and renewed for the second time in December 2001 to last until the end of 2002, to deal summarily with crimes such as armed robbery, murder, and arms smuggling. The emergency tribunals were composed of one civil judge and two military judges, and defendants were not allowed legal representation, and were allowed only a week to appeal to the district chief justice, HRW said. The lack of legal representation for the accused, the summary nature of the proceedings, and the limited right of appeal "directly contravenes international commitments that Sudan has adopted under the ICCPR [International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights]". "The 'emergency courts' handing out these drastic penalties do not allow the accused to have a lawyer or advocate, even though so much is at stake," said Rone. HRW cited the cases of six men in in the western states of Northern Darfur and Southern Darfur, who had been sentenced to limb amputations since December 2001 for crimes such as robbery and illegal possession of weapons. On 12 December 2001, an emergency tribunal in Nyala, Southern Darfur convicted Abduh Isma'il Tong and Yusuf Yaow Mombai of stealing Sudanese pounds 3 million (about US $1,160) and sentenced them to amputation of the right hand, HRW said. Although the men had confessed to the crime while in police custody, they later denied it, "raising serious concern about the possibility of confession under duress"," HRW said. On 25 December 2001, Muhammad Adam Yahya and Ahmad Sulayman Muhammad were sentenced to amputation of the right hand followed by death by hanging, for armed robbery, HRW reported. On 27 December 2001, Adam Ibrahim Uthman and Abdullah Isma'il Ibrahim were convicted of banditry and possession of unlicensed weapons, and sentenced to cross amputation - amputation of the right hand and left foot, the statement said. In a letter to Sudanese President Umar Hasan al-Bashir on Friday, HRW urged him to intervene to ensure that the "cruel and inhuman" sentences were not carried out. According to HRW, the sentences contravene Article 7 of the ICCPR, which HRW cited as saying "no one shall be subjected to torture or to cruel, inhuman or degrading treatment or punishment". Limb amputations were cruel, inhuman and degrading because they mutilated the convicted person, subjected him to discrimination and isolation, and prevented him from taking part in most forms of gainful employment, HRW said. According to HRW, inhumane sentences were also being passed outside the scope of the emergency tribunals, in Sudan's criminal courts. HRW cited the case of Abok Alfa Akok, a pregnant, 18 year-old southern Sudanese woman sentenced to death by stoning for committing adultery. Abok, a Christian from the Dinka ethnic group, did not have legal representation at her trial. The trial was conducted in Arabic, which was not her language, and she did not have access to an interpreter to ensure that she understood fully the case against her, HRW said. According to HRW, Article 6(5) of the ICCPR, which Sudan ratified in 1986 - strictly prohibits the imposition of capital punishment on pregnant women. "Imposing the death penalty in Arabic on this young woman who does not understand Arabic well constitutes a denial of her most fundamental human rights, and the amputation of hands and feet is a brutal punishment that disables permanently," Rone said.