The Wide Application of the Death Penalty in Sudan

(August 2016) Contrary to Sudan’s commitments to international human rights standards and its own domestic law, the Government of Sudan continues to implement the death penalty widely. Amnesty International reported that in 2015, Sudan handed down eighteen death sentences and carried out three executions. In 2014, Sudan was reported to be the highest ranking state implementing executions in Africa, executing at least 23 people. In the same year, Sudan was ranked sixth among the top executing countries in the world.

Even though Sudan has not published official statistics on death sentences and executions and ACJPS has limited access to such information, ACJPS documented 142 death sentences and 2 executions from 2011-2015. This report therefore, presents updated analysis and research conducted by ACJPS, and builds upon research conducted in 2010 on the use of the death penalty in Sudan in, “Widening the Scope: The Expanding Use of Capital Punishment in Law and Practice in Sudan”. The report starts off with a comprehensive overview of Sudan’s international and regional human rights commitments, as well as existing domestic legislation governing capital crimes. It then builds on the research and analysis published by ACJPS in 2010 and examines trends in the application of the death penalty to three distinct groups: political opposition parties, juveniles and women; and includes an examination of existing conditions on death row. It concludes by providing recommendations on potential areas for reform and steps to be taken towards the eventual abolition of the death penalty to the Government of Sudan.

To read the full report click here.