Source:

The Penal Code links criminal responsibility to attaining puberty; thus, the death penalty is applicable to persons under 18 years of age [ID 24677]

"The 2004 Child Law applicable in all parts of Sudan states that as a matter of principle courts should not sentence children to death, and sets a maximum sentence of ten years' detention in a juvenile reformatory for capital offenses committed by persons age 15 to 18.

However, the Child Law also specifies that a child is someone under age 18, "unless the applicable law stipulates that the child has reached maturity."

This raises the possibility that a person under 18 could still be sentenced to death under the 1991 Penal Code.

Article 9 of the Penal Code links criminal responsibility to attaining puberty, and article 3 defines an adult as "a person whose puberty has been established by definite natural features and who has completed 15 years of age ... [or] attained 18 years of age ... even if the features of puberty do not appear."

The 2004 Child Law also lacks clarity on when children over 15 can benefit from the specialized courts and other juvenile justice protections created under the 2004 Child Law, and in practice few juvenile courts exist.

The 2005 Interim Constitution of Southern Sudan banned the death penalty for persons under 18 without resolving the contradiction with the juvenile death penalty provision in the Interim National Constitution.

The Southern Sudan Legislative Assembly has yet to finalize a draft Child Code that would ban the juvenile death penalty."

19.09.2008 - Source: US Department of State

Converting from Islam to another religion is punishable by imprisonment and even death in the North; a death sentence for apostasy has never been carried out by the current government ("International Religious Freedom Report 2008") [ID 24775]

"Although there is no penalty for converting from another religion to Islam, converting from Islam to another religion is punishable by imprisonment and even death in the north;

however, a death sentence for apostasy has never been carried out by the current Government."

Document(s): Open document

09.2008 - Source: Human Rights Watch

Sudan's 2004 Child Law sets reduced sentences for children age 15 to 18; Sudan's 2005 Interim Constitution allows for death penalty against persons under age 18 (" The Last Holdouts: Ending the Juvenile Death Penalty in Iran, Saudi Arabia, Sudan, Pakistan, and Yemen") [ID 24661]

"Sudan are states parties to the Convention on the Rights of the Child; Sudan is also a state party to the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights and the African Charter on Human and Peoples' Rights [...].

Sudan's 2004 Child Law sets reduced sentences for children age 15 to 18 who commit capital offenses.

However, this law is not consistent with Sudan's 2005 Interim Constitution, which allows for the death penalty against persons under age 18 in qisas and hadd cases, nor with provisions of the 1991 Penal Code, which allows judges to try as adults children over age 15 who show signs of puberty."

Document(s): Press Release
Report

09.2008 - Source: Human Rights Watch

Children's ability to benefit from legislation banning death penalty against persons under age 18 is limited by low rate of birth registration, which makes it difficult for minors to prove their age (" The Last Holdouts: Ending the Juvenile Death Penalty in Iran, Saudi Arabia, Sudan, Pakistan, and Yemen") [ID 24675]

"Children's ability to benefit from the Sudanese [...] legislation is further limited by low rates of birth registration - 64 percent for Sudan [...] - which make it difficult for juvenile offenders to prove their age at the time of the crime."

Document(s): Press Release
Report

09.2008 - Source: Human Rights Watch

List of offences which are punishable by execution (" The Last Holdouts: Ending the Juvenile Death Penalty in Iran, Saudi Arabia, Sudan, Pakistan, and Yemen") [ID 24676]

"Under the 2005 Interim National Constitution, applicable in all parts of the country, Sudan retains the death penalty for hadd, qisas, and "extremely serious" crimes, although it excludes persons under 18 or over 70 years of age from execution in cases other than hadd and qisas.

Under the 1991 Penal Code, applicable in all parts of Sudan, hadd crimes punishable by execution include waging war against the state, espionage,apostasy, adultery, sodomy, running a place of prostitution, and armed robbery resulting in death or rape.

Intentional murder is a qisas offence punishable by execution, and includes killings resulting from an intentional act that was likely to result in death."

Document(s): Press Release
Report

09.2008 - Source: Human Rights Watch

Since 1990, Sudan is known to have executed 2 juvenile offenders, but Human Rights Watch is aware of at least 6 other cases of persons sentenced to death who are believed to have been under 18 at the time of the alleged offence (" The Last Holdouts: Ending the Juvenile Death Penalty in Iran, Saudi Arabia, Sudan, Pakistan, and Yemen") [ID 24678]

"Since 1990, Sudan is known to have executed two juvenile offenders, Mohammed Jamal Gesmallah and Imad Ali Abdullah, on August 31, 2005.38 However, Human Rights Watch is aware of at least 6 other cases of persons sentenced to death who are believed to have been under 18 at the time of the alleged offense. [...]

Kamal Hassan `Abd al-Rahman is currently on death row, awaiting the outcome of an appeal to the Constitutional Court challenging the constitutionality of the death sentence issued against him for a crime committed when he was 15 years old.

The Port Sudan Criminal Court sentenced `Abd al-Rahman to death for a murder committed on March 11, 2004, when he was about 15 years old.

According to his lawyer, the Port Sudan Criminal Court rejected the defense's argument at the initial hearing on June 22, 2004 that `Abd al-Rahman was 15 years old and should be transferred to a juvenile court, as required by Sudanese law.

Instead, the court determined that the boy was an adult based on a doctor's written testimony that the boy showed signs of puberty.

On August 5, 2006, the High Court returned the case to the Port Sudan Criminal Court with instructions that it order a forensic age determination.

A September 2006 age determination that found `Abd al-Rahman to be between 18 and 20 years old at the time of the determination. As such, he would have been under 18 at the time of the crime and should have been tried as a juvenile and benefited from a reduced sentence, a factor that the court does not appear to have taken into account.

The defense also submitted testimony that neither of the age determinations used by the court were forensic examinations, as the first was based on puberty and the second was performed by a dentist and not a forensic panel.

However, the judge rejected the defense argument, saying that age determination did not require special expertise."

Document(s): Press Release
Report

12.08.2008 - Source: World Organisation Against Torture

Death penalty imposed on 30 individuals, including a minor, for alleged involvement in Justice and Equality Movement (JEM) ("Death penalty imposed on 30 individuals, including a minor [SDN 120808/ SDN 120808.CC]") [ID 24371]

Document(s): Open document

05.08.2008 - Source: ReliefWeb

8 Darfur rebels convicted of terrorism offences for attacking the capital have appealed against their death sentences, a member of the defence team said ("Sudan: Darfur rebels appeal against death sentences"), Autor: Reuters [ID 24369]

Document(s): Open document

29.07.2008 - Source: ReliefWeb

Army confirmed that police clashed at the weekend with former Darfur rebels, killing 4 of them; 8 rebels condemned to death ("Sudan condemns eight Darfur rebels to death"), Autor: Reuters Foundation [ID 24365]

Document(s): Open document

29.07.2008 - Source: BBC News

Judge sentences 8 Darfur rebels to death over an attack on the capital ("Death sentence for Sudan rebels") [ID 24366]

Document(s): Open document

28.05.2008 - Source: Amnesty International

At least 23 people known to have been sentenced to death in 2007, 7 people executed; true figures believed to be higher ("Annual Report 2008") [ID 23358]

"At least 23 people were known to have been sentenced to death and seven people executed by hanging during 2007.

The true figures were believed to be much higher.

Death sentences continued to be frequently passed after unfair trials in which confessions extracted under torture were used as evidence.

On several occasions defendants were sentenced to death after trials where they had no defence lawyer.

Death sentences continued to be passed on women for adultery but no such sentence was known to have been carried out.

In Darfur, Special Courts and Special Criminal Courts continued to conduct unfair trials. [...]

In South Sudan death sentences were passed on many people who had been tried without defence counsel. However, no one was known to have been judicially executed during 2007.

Sadia Idriss Fadul and Amouna Abdallah Daldoum, both originally from Darfur, were sentenced in February and March respectively to be stoned to death for adultery by the Criminal Court in Managil Province, Gazira State. It was believed that the sentence was commuted.

In November, 10 people originally from Darfur, including al-Tayeb Abdel Aziz, aged 16, and Idris Mohammed al-Sanousi, aged 71, were sentenced to death by the Khartoum Criminal Court for the murder of a newspaper editor, Mohammed Taha.

All 10 retracted confessions which they said were extracted under torture.

The Court refused defence lawyers' requests to order medical examinations.

Two members of military intelligence, Bakhit Mohammed Bakhit and Abdel Malik Abdallah, were executed by hanging in May in Shalla Prison, al-Fasher, Darfur.

They had been tried before the Special Criminal Court on the Events in Darfur in August 2005 and sentenced to death for murder after the death of Adam Idris Mohammed as a result of torture in custody. The head of military intelligence was acquitted."

Document(s): Open document

28.05.2008 - Source: Amnesty International

Southern Sudan: Many people convicted without defence lawyers; death sentences were passed out in 2007, but no execution known to have been carried out ("Annual Report 2008") [ID 23361]

"Partly because of a shortage of lawyers, many people were convicted without defence lawyers.

A number of death sentences were passed but no judicial executions were known to have been carried out.

Mapet Daniel Dut was sentenced to death for murder in October by the Court of Justice in Rumbek.

He reportedly had no defence lawyer.

He later escaped from prison and police detained his brother and father in his place.

Two sisters, who brought them food, were also detained, but released after a few days.

Mapet Daniel Dut was not recaptured and his father remained in detention at the end of the year."

Document(s): Open document

05.2008 - Source: Sudan Organisation Against Torture

Death penalty remains applicable for children under the age of 18 ("Alternative Report To Sudan’s Periodic Report Before the 43rd Session of the African Commission on Human and Peoples’ Rights (Swaziland, May 2008)") [ID 23963]

"International law, including the ICCPR and the CRC, prohibits the use of the death penalty against child offenders - that is, any individual who was under the age of 18 at the time that the crime in question took place.

Despite the fact that Sudan has ratified both the ICCPR and the CRC, Article 27 (2) of the Criminal Act 1991 still allows for the use of the death penalty against children under the age of 18 in cases of hudud and retribution.

In practice, the Sudanese judiciary continues to use this legislation to pass death sentences against children, as the following recent examples show:

On 10 November 2007 Al-Tayeb Abdel Aziz (16 years old) was sentenced to death along with nine other individuals for the murder of newspaper editor Mohamed Taha Mohamed Ahmed in September 2006.

Al-Tayeb Abdel Aziz was 15 years old at the time of the murder.

A lawyer representing the group has said that the conviction was based on confessions extracted under torture.

The death sentences were upheld by the Khartoum North Court of Appeals on 13 March 2008. [...]

On 3 May 2007 Abdelrhman Zakaria Mohamed and Ahmed Abdullah Suleiman (both 16 years old) were sentenced to death by the Criminal Court in Nyala, South Darfur.

Abdelrhman Zakaria Mohamed was found guilty of murder, robbery and "causing injury intentionally".

Ahmed Abdullah Suleiman was found guilty of "being an accomplice"."

Document(s): Open document

12.11.2007 - Source: Amnesty International

10 people sentenced to death by Khartoum Criminal Court for murder of journalist Mohammad Taha; reason to believe confessions that led to trial had been extracted under torture ("Urgent Action 302/07 [AFR 54/064/2007]") [ID 21759]

Document(s): Open document

20.04.2006 - Source: Austrian Centre for Country of Origin and Asylum Research and Documentation

Information on offences carrying death penalty; there is no detailed information on number of executions ("10th European Country of Origin Infomation Seminar Budapest, 1 - 2 December 2005: Final Report on Sudan") [#49770],  [ID 18925]

"According to the 1991 Criminal Law, nine offences carry the death penalty: Attack on the power of the state, sometimes also called “crimes against the state”, which is quite commonly used to persecute political opponents; waging war against the state (art. 51); espionage (art. 53), which is also used to accuse human rights defenders and humanitarian workers. There were several cases, especially in Darfur, where Sudanese citizens who worked for UN organisations or international NGOs were arrested and accused of being spies for the US or the UN. The offence carries the death sentence. Further crimes punishable by death are apostasy, which means the conversion from Islam to another religion, murder, adultery, homosexuality, armed robbery and embezzlement.
There are no statistics available on the number of people sentenced to death or of executions actually carried out. According to estimates, between 150 and 300 persons, depending on the source, currently await execution, mostly in Khartoum and Darfur. Fewer executions are carried out now than in the past. More sentences are appealed and more cases won on appeal. Crucifixion and stoning are being carried out less frequently. Public executions which occurred in the past are not taking place anymore, but people are still executed in prisons."

Document(s): Open document

20.04.2006 - Source: Austrian Centre for Country of Origin and Asylum Research and Documentation

Homosexuals face prosecution for sodomy ("10th European Country of Origin Infomation Seminar Budapest, 1 - 2 December 2005: Final Report on Sudan") [#49770],  [ID 19045]

"Homosexuals face persecution in Sudan. The Criminal Code is very strict on this matter. The concept of homosexuality is a bit different than in Europe; it is about sodomy. It is the act which is punishable, not the orientation. In the traditional concept, homosexuality doesn’t exist, just like it didn’t exist in Europe until not so long ago.
Unmarried perpetrators would first be sentenced to 80 lashes, the second time to imprisonment, the third time to death. If the perpetrators are married, sodomy carries the death sentence. However, it is difficult to find information on the implementation, on how many people were actually sentenced or punished for sodomy.
Whereas many societies have traditional niches for homosexuals, no societal niches exist in Sudan, with the exception of the wedding cooks. The accusation of being homosexual is sometimes used to blackmail somebody or to smear political opponents. Basically, homosexuality is not tolerated."

Document(s): Open document

10.2004 - Source: UK Home Office

According to the 1991 criminal law there are nine offences for which the accused may be sentenced to death ("Sudan Country Report - October 2004") [#26961],  [ID 12207]

"5.46 A Danish Fact Finding Mission of August and November 2001 reported that "According to the 1991 criminal law there are now nine offences in all for which the accused may be sentenced to death:

Article 50: Attack on the power of the state and undermining the constitution
Article 51: Making war on the state
Article 53: Spying against the country
Article 126: Apostasy (converting from Islam to another religion)
Article 130: Murder
Article 146: Adultery
Article 148g: Homosexuality
Article 168: Armed robbery
Article 177: Embezzlement." [9b] (p13)"

Document(s): Report

01.07.1998 - Source:

Sudan.net: Constitution Of The Republic Of Sudan [ID 12223]

"Article 33
Death Penalty

1. The death penalty may not be imposed except as chastisement or punishment for the most serious very serious crimes in accordance with law.

2. A sentence of death shall not be imposed by crimes committed by persons below eighteen years-of-age and shall not be carried out on pregnant or lactating women, except two years after the birth, or on those above the age of seventy except when they have committed crimes of qisas or hadud."

Document(s): Open document