From: Biniam Tekle (biniamt@dehai.org)
Date: Mon Aug 18 2008 - 08:25:12 EDT
August 18, 2008
Sudan Sentences 8 Rebels to Death for Khartoum Raid
By AGENCE FRANCE-PRESSE
KHARTOUM, Sudan (Agence France-Presse) — A Sudanese court sentenced to death
a top Darfur rebel and seven others on Sunday, bringing to 38 the number
condemned to hang for an attack on Khartoum that killed more than 220
people.
The top rebel, Abdul Aziz Ashur, half brother of Khalil Ibrahim, the leader
of a rebel group in Darfur, and the others were sentenced after a trial that
began on July 3.
The judge declared the eight guilty under Sudanese criminal and
counterterrorism law of involvement in the May 10 attack on Khartoum. He
gave them two weeks to appeal.
Mr. Ashur joined the rebel Justice and Equality Movement in 2003 and led its
operations in Eritrea until 2005, when Sudanese-Eritrean relations improved
after a peace agreement between north and south Sudan ended 21 years of
civil war.
Defense lawyers argue that the special Sudanese courts are unconstitutional
and do not guarantee their clients' legal rights.
One lawyer, Kemal Omar, dismissed the court as a political entity and said
the sentences would complicate efforts to find a solution to the five-year
conflict in the western region of Darfur.
The United Nations has also voiced concern over the trials, calling for
comprehensive appeal procedures and for the government to abolish capital
punishment.
Under Sudanese law, any death sentence must be ratified by both an appeals
court and the high court.
All death warrants then require the signature of President Omar Hassan
al-Bashir.
The International Criminal Court prosecutor has asked for an arrest warrant
for Mr. Bashir, accusing him of responsibility for genocide in Darfur.
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