Amnesty International stated it was gravely concerned...

Amnesty International stated it was gravely concerned that time was running out for 88 people, including two children, sentenced to death by hanging or crucifixion, for their alleged role in ethnic clashes in Rizeigat, Southern Darfur. "Everything is wrong with this case. Not only have death sentences been passed, which Amnesty International opposes unconditionally, but they were passed after an obviously unfair trial. Those sentenced include two children, despite the worldwide ban on sentencing children under the age of 18 to death," the organization said. Emergency Courts, sometimes known as the "special courts" sentenced the 88 people to death by hanging or crucifixion in Nyala on 17 July 2002, on charges including murder, armed robbery and public disturbances. The charges were all related to recent clashes between the Rizeigat and Maalayia ethnic groups in Southern Darfur. The two children sentenced among the group of 88, Gadim Hamdoum Hamid and Kabashi Alayan, are both aged 14. All the accused were tried without proper legal representation and some were reportedly tortured before trial. Emergency Courts were established in Darfur under a 1998 State of Emergency, which grants wide powers to circumvent Sudan's Criminal Procedures Act. The State of Emergency is also in breach of international standards of fair trials. "The government of Sudan must now ensure that the sentences are not carried out. It should put an end to this cruelty," Amnesty International said, adding that the international community should send out the strongest signals of its opposition to the carrying out of the executions."