Eighteen members of the Sudanese Liberation Army – Mini Minawi sentenced to death by the Special Criminal Court on the Events in Darfur

(17 December 2015) On 26 November 2015 the Special Criminal Court on the Events in Darfur, currently housed by the Khartoum Bahri Criminal Court, sentenced eighteen members of the rebel Sudan Liberation Army – Mini Minawi (SLA-MM) to death for a number of offences, including crimes against the state under the 1991 Sudanese Penal Code. The group was arrested during armed clashes in two Darfur localities between the SLA-MM rebels and the Government’s paramilitary Rapid Support Forces in March 2014. The entire group reported to lawyers that they were beaten during interrogations by the NISS after their arrest. Another man, Mohamed Musa Issa, who had stood trial in the same case, died of unknown causes at Huda Prison, Khartoum, in September 2015. Members of the group told their lawyers they suspected he had kidney problems and that his body had swollen prior to his death. He was reportedly denied medical treatment and the authorities failed to issue a death certificate.

Lawyers representing the group submitted an appeal to the appeal chamber of the Special Criminal Court on the Events in Darfur on 2 December 2015 arguing that the case breached basic procedural guarantees in Sudanese and international law.

The inadmissibility of statements and other evidence obtained as a result of torture and ill-treatment as evidence in criminal proceedings, except those brought against suspected perpetrators of such abuse, is inherent in the international prohibition against torture and other ill-treatment to which Sudan has committed. The principle is also set out clearly in the Principles and Guidelines on the Right to a Fair Trial and Legal Assistance in Africa adopted by the African Union in 2003.

The African Centre for Justice and Peace Studies (ACJPS) calls on the Government of Sudan to immediately launch an independent investigation into the circumstances leading to the death in custody of Mohamed Musa Issa, as well as the allegations of torture and ill-treatment made by the group of 18. The Government of Sudan should guarantee their right to a fair trial and ensure that evidence obtained through torture or ill-treatment is not admitted by Sudanese courts.

ACJPS condemns the use of the death penalty in all circumstances.

Detention and trial concerns

19 men were reportedly detained during armed clashes between the SLA – MM and Sudan’s paramilitary Rapid Support Forces (RSF) at two Darfur localities in March 2014.  A number of the men were detained at clashes in eastern Jebel Marra, North Darfur and others from Ba’ashim area, north-west of Mellit in North Darfur. They were taken by members of the RSF to El Fashir and Nyala police stations respectively and transferred to National Intelligence and Security Services (NISS) premises for interrogations. Both groups at Nyala and El Fashir reported that they were beaten with water pipes and gun barrels during NISS interrogations. On an unknown date prior to May 2014, the then Special Prosecutor for Darfur crimes, Yasir Ahmed Mohamed, issued charges against the group of 19 under articles 21 (joint acts in execution of criminal conspiracy), 24 (criminal conspiracy), 25 (abetment), 26 (assisting), 50 (undermining the constitutional system), 51 (waging war against the state), 58 (abetment of mutiny), 60 (wearing of military dress or using military token or dealing therein by non-military persons), 61 (unlawful drilling), 63 (provoking hatred against or amongst sects), and 130 (murder) of the 1991 Sudanese Penal Code, as well as articles 5 (terrorist crimes) and 6 (management of terrorist organisations) of the 2001 Anti – Terrorism Act and articles 44 (violations and penalties) and 25 (weapons’ licenses) of the 1986 Weapons and Ammunition Act.

Media reports indicate the 19 men were transferred to Kober Prison in Kharotum Bahri in May 2014 after the charges were issued. The whole group was again transferred from Kober Prison to Huda Prison in North Omdurman on 6 December 2014, when the trial also started.

Mohamed Musa Issa reportedly died at Huda Prison on an unknown date in September 2015 just weeks before the court decision. Whilst the cause of his death remains unknown, the co-defendants reported to their lawyers that they suspected he had kidney problems and that his body appeared swollen shortly before his death. He was reportedly denied medical attention and no death certificate was issued. Prison authorities contacted his family shortly before his death but he died before they arrived.

On 26 November 2015 the Special Criminal Court on the Events in Darfur, currently housed by the Khartoum Bahri Criminal Court, found the group guilty of all charges issued.

Background

Sudan’s 1994 Evidence Act fails to reject evidence obtained through torture in breach of these regional and international human rights standards to which Sudan has committed. Article 10(1) of the 1994 Evidence Act, states that “evidence shall not be rejected merely because it has been obtained by unlawful means whenever the Court is satisfied with the genuineness of its substance”. Human rights groups have also expressed concern that Article 11(4) of the Decree Establishing the Special Criminal Court on the Events in Darfur allows the Special Court to convict defendants on the basis of a confession without a requirement that the court assess whether the confession was made voluntarily or corroborated by other evidence.

States may not invoke provisions of its domestic law or a state of emergency to justify obligations under international law to protect all persons from torture, cruel, and inhumane treatment. Sudan has committed to an absolute ban on torture and cruel, inhuman or degrading punishment or treatment under the African Charter on Human and Peoples’ Rights and the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights. Sudan is also bound under customary international law to respect article 3 common to the 1949 Geneva Conventions and as a state party to the 1977 Additional Protocol II to the Geneva Conventions, applicable in non-international armed conflicts such as the conflict in Darfur. Common article 3 provides that persons not taking active part in hostilities, including members of armed forces who are in detention, shall be treated humanely, and torture and cruel treatment are forbidden, as is “the passing of sentences and the carrying out of executions without previous judgment pronounced by a regularly constituted court, affording all judicial guarantees”.

The Special Criminal Court on the Events in Darfur’s (SCCD) work and mandate has been controversial.  The court was ostensibly set up in 2005 to try international crimes committed in Darfur, including large-scale attacks on civilians and other serious violations of international human rights law and international humanitarian law that would otherwise be prosecuted by the International Criminal Court (ICC). Despite its mandate, the court has handled very few cases and has failed to address the serious crimes, such as crimes against humanity, committed in Darfur over the past ten years and has lacked independence. A report of the United Nations High Commissioner for Human Rights on Impunity and Accountability in Darfur recently found that between 2012 and 2014, the SCCD ruled on only seven cases, while 33 were under trial and 25 were still being investigated in 2014. None of the concluded cases had relevance to alleged violations and abuses of international human rights and international humanitarian law in Darfur. Non-governmental organisations have raised fears regarding the guarantee of procedural rights before the Special Court, such as the right to legal representation of one’s own choosing and protection from self-incrimination. Human Rights Watch found in some cases that although the Decree establishing the Special Court establishes the right to legal representation, the extent to which this right is enjoyed in practice and at what stage the right to representation commences is unclear.

In the past ACJPS has documented cases of torture and custodial death of detainees accused of providing information to Sudanese rebel groups in Darfur. The body of 32-year-old Abakar Adam Ishag, showing signs of torture, including wounds sustained from a sharp object, was admitted to the Teaching Hospital in El Geneina town, West Darfur on 19 July. Mr. Ishag was accused by Military Intelligence of being a key Justice and Equality Movement (JEM) supporter. In April and May 2014 ACJPS documented the deaths of four detainees in state custody in two separate incidents in Darfur and Blue Nile.

In the first months of 2014, the RSF, a government force under the command of the National Intelligence and Security Services (NISS), and consisting largely of former militias created in mid-2013, led a brutal counterinsurgency campaign in Darfur. A UN Security Council report from 2014 found that the SLA-MM, based mainly in South and East Darfur, bore the brunt of the RSF campaign in the first quarter of 2014. The RSF also attacked civilians, burned and looted homes, raped and beat villagers and unlawfully killed an unknown number of civilians. During both campaigns the RSF received aerial support and fought alongside SAF ground troops and other paramilitary and militia groups. The attacks were associated with large-scale forced displacement. The UN Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs (OCHA) estimated that at least 215,000 were newly displaced in Darfur between 1 January and 24 March.

The 18 men convicted by the Special Criminal Court on the Events in Darfur on 26 November are named below:

1. Ahmed Mohamed Nour, (m)
2. Clinton Emanuel, (m), South Sudanese national.
3. Seneen  Shumo, (m)
4. Abulgasim Suleiman Mohamed, (m)
5. Zakaria Yagoup Idris, (m)
6. Abdala Jumaa Zubir, (m)
7. Adam Mohamed Malaa Genawi, (m)
8. Abdala Mohamed Ahmed Jubara, (m)
9. Mohamed Abdala Haroun, (m)
10. Yahia Haroum Yahia,(m)
11. Adam Hussein Dahia Abdulkariem, (m)
12. Maher Adam Mustafa Dabo,(m)
13. Amar Abdulrahman Mursal, (m)
14. Abdulshafi Mohamed Abdulrahman, (m)
15. Mohamed Eltayeb Musa, (m)
16. Obied Abdulnabi Hussein, (m)
17. Adam Khalil Hussein, (m)
18. Abdala Adam Hussein, (m)

In November 2015, the SLA/MM was engaged in talks with Sudan under the auspices of the African Union High Level Implementation Panel (AUHIP). During the talks, the government of Sudan refused to release detainees of the SLA/MM and the rebel Justice and Equality Movement (the JEM).

Contact

Mohamed Badawi (English and Arabic), monitoring programme coordinator, info@acjps.org, +256 783 693 689.