Special "emergency courts" established in 2001 in Sudan...

Special "emergency courts" established in 2001 in Sudan are being used to impose inhumane sentences such as death by stoning and amputations, Human Rights Watch (HRW) said.
According to HRW, "emergency tribunals" were set up in 2001 under the state of emergency, originally declared in December 1999 and renewed for the second time in December 2001 to last until the end of 2002, to deal summarily with crimes such as armed robbery, murder, and arms smuggling.
The emergency tribunals were composed of one civil judge and two military judges, and defendants were not allowed legal representation, and were allowed only a week to appeal to the district chief justice, HRW said.
The lack of legal representation for the accused, the summary nature of the proceedings, and the limited right of appeal "directly contravenes international commitments that Sudan has adopted under the ICCPR [International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights]".
HRW cited the cases of six men in the western states of Northern Darfur and Southern Darfur, who had been sentenced to limb amputations since December 2001 for crimes such as robbery and illegal possession of weapons.
According to HRW, inhumane sentences were also being passed outside the scope of the emergency tribunals, in Sudan's criminal courts. HRW cited the case of Abok Alfa Akok, a pregnant, 18 year-old southern Sudanese woman sentenced to death by stoning for committing adultery.
Abok, a Christian from the Dinka ethnic group, did not have legal representation at her trial. The trial was conducted in Arabic, which was not her language, and she did not have access to an interpreter to ensure that she understood fully the case against her, HRW said.
According to HRW, Article 6(5) of the ICCPR, which Sudan ratified in 1986 - strictly prohibits the imposition of capital punishment on pregnant women.
"Imposing the death penalty in Arabic on this young woman who does not understand Arabic well constitutes a denial of her most fundamental human rights, and the amputation of hands and feet is a brutal punishment that disables permanently," Jemera Rone, Sudan researcher for HRW said in a statement.