In October 2010, a group of nine individuals, alleged to be affiliated with the Justice and Equality
Movement (JEM) rebels in Darfur were sentenced to death by a judge in Nyala, South Darfur. They
were found guilty of at least four charges (armed robbery, criminal damage, fomenting war against
the state and offences against the state) in relation to a carjacking which had occurred in Khour
Baskawit the previous May. The group included four minors: Ibrahim Shrief Yousef (17 years old,
Birged Tribe), Altyeb Mohamed Yagoup, (16 years old, Zagawa Tribe), Abdalla Abdalla Doud, (16
years old, Gimr Tribe), and Abdarazig Daoud Abdelseed (15 years, Birged Tribe). The four minors
sentenced to death had given their actual ages to the registry, but the court tried them as adults
pursuant to medical examinations while they were in custody that determined they were over 18.
There are no standardised procedures for determining age, and assessment is based on physical
appearance. A fifth minor, Idriss Adam Abaker, was confirmed as a child on a second examination
and his sentence commuted, but the court did not allow Ibrahim Shrief Yousef and Abdarazig Daoud
Abdelseed to undergo the same examination. The group was tried by a Special Court established in 2
1997 to prosecute cases of hijacking and robbery; notably, the Court has significantly less judicial
monitoring and oversight than other courts in Nyala.
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الإنجليزية
2010-12-01