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."

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

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

05.2008 - 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

05.2008 - Source: Sudan Organisation Against Torture

The law provides for punishment specifically tailored towards juveniles ("Alternative Report To Sudan’s Periodic Report Before the 43rd Session of the African Commission on Human and Peoples’ Rights (Swaziland, May 2008)") [ID 23964]

"[...] Article 47 of the Criminal Act 1991 provides for punishments specifically tailored towards juveniles.

These punishments, which are available for courts to use in cases where an individual is convicted of committing a crime when he or she was between the ages of 7 and 18, include up to 20 lashes [...].

The other punishments listed under Article 47 are: reprimanding the juvenile in question in the presence of a guardian; handing the juvenile over to a guardian who will undertake to "properly look after" him or her; putting the juvenile under "social supervision" for one to two years; and detaining the juvenile in one of the "reformation and social welfare institutions" for two to five years."

Document(s): Open document

12.10.2007 - Source: Internal Displacement Monitoring Centre (formerly Global IDP Project)

Southern Sudan: Juvenile justice appears non-existent ("Outlook for IDPs remains bleak; A profile of the internal displacement situation") [ID 23962]

"Current community-based and statutory mechanisms to address crimes and violations of human rights are minimal and nascent at best.

Women and children are particularly vulnerable.

Not considered legal subjects (e.g. right to own property), women enjoy limited guarantees, while juvenile justice appears non-existent."

Document(s): Open document

22.05.2003 - Source: Amnesty International

A fourteen year old girl, who is nine months pregnant, sentenced to 100 lashes by a court in the town of Nyala, South Darfur ("Sudan - UA 145/03") [#12954],  [ID 12627]

Document(s): Open document

06.01.2003 - Source: UN Human Rights Council (formerly UN Commission on Human Rights)

Juvenile justice remains an area of concern ("Situation of human rights in the Sudan. Report of the Special Rapporteur, Gerhart Baum, submitted in accordance with Commission resolution 2002/16 (E/CN.4/2003/42)") [#10759],  [ID 12628]

"60. The Special Rapporteur was informed that no significant progress has been made on the
situation of children. Reportedly, street children and juvenile justice remain areas of concern.
Only two reformatories exist and children are very often detained with adults and allegedly
subjected to inhumane treatment.
61. The Special Rapporteur was informed that child exploitation reportedly continues to take
place, particularly in the agricultural and pastoral sectors. Families are poor and forced to send
their children to work rather than to school. Agriculture keeps children far from towns and
population centres, they roam in dangerous areas where they are potentially more exposed to
abuses (armed conflict, banditry, etc.) while in cities the situation is reportedly slightly different,
they still run the risk of becoming street children (shoe-shiners, car-washers, etc.). The Special
Rapporteur’s attention was drawn to the fact that street children in Khartoum are mostly IDPs.
Networks that exploit them, including sexually, reportedly flourish. The Special Rapporteur
deems that stronger government involvement is necessary.
62. The Special Rapporteur was also informed that forced recruitment of children in war
zones has reportedly continued. He learnt that an unconfirmed number of children have been
imprisoned in Bahr al-Ghazal because of desertion and sentenced to up to 20 years in prison. He
was glad to learn that the Wali of Wau reportedly decided to release them based on the fact that,
as minors, they should not have been recruited in the first place."

Document(s): Open document
02459sud.pdf

06.01.2003 - Source: UN Human Rights Council (formerly UN Commission on Human Rights)

Case of at least one prisoner who was underage, reportedly 14 ("Situation of human rights in the Sudan. Report of the Special Rapporteur, Gerhart Baum, submitted in accordance with Commission resolution 2002/16 (E/CN.4/2003/42)") [#10759],  [ID 12629]

"88. During his visit, the Special Rapporteur travelled to El-Fashir, North Darfur, to look into
the issue of special courts. He met with relevant segments of the local administration, including
the police and security. He also held extensive discussions with the heads of the judiciary of
South and North Darfur. He then visited the local prison where he met with representatives of
the Rizeigat tribe, who had been arrested and sentenced to death following an incident that
occurred in April/May in which they had clashed with the Mahlia tribe.
89. He extensively discussed the case with both the Head of the judiciary and the prisoners
and was provided with details.8 He also raised the case of the presence of at least one prisoner
who was underage, reportedly 14. He was told that legal responsibility starts at 15 years of age
and is “linked to the appearance of manhood”; that the child was questioned by the court and
“replied that he was a man”; that he was taken to a “specialized doctor” who assessed that the
boy “must have been 17”.
90. The Special Rapporteur was informed that children under 18 cannot be sentenced to
death except for armed robbery. The Appeal Court in Nyala confirmed the judgement, which
was further referred to the High Court in Khartoum, where it is still pending."

Document(s): Open document
02459sud.pdf

22.08.2002 - Source: Amnesty International

88 people, including two children, sentenced to death by hanging or crucifixion for their alleged role in ethnic clashes in Rizeigat, Southern Darfur ("Sudan: Death sentences must not be carried out") [#8354],  [ID 12630]

Document(s): Open document

03.2002 - Source: Sudan Organisation Against Torture

Position of children in reform centres ("Annual Human Rights Report (March 2001 - March 2002)") [#12090],  [ID 12631]

"1. Al Giraif Reform Centre for young offenders (Islahiyat Al Giraif)
Al Giraif Reform Centre houses 14 girls and 80 boys between the ages of 7 and 15. Two of the girls detained have children. Established in the early 1950s, the two main objectives of the centre are stated as being to enhance and promote the spiritual development of children, and to provide vocational training. The former is supposed to be achieved by means of religious teaching given by Christian and Islamic scholars. However, whilst there is a mosque at the centre, there are no facilities for Christian worship and religious teaching is exclusively Islamic, even though 39.7% of children at the institution are Christian.
Although the centre provides vocational training, it does not meet the basic educational rights of the children as set out in Articles 28 and 29 of the Convention on the Rights of the Child, which state that every child is entitled to compulsory primary education.
Treatment of children
All the supervisors working at the centre are low ranking policemen, with the ‘social care department’ staffed solely by researchers. There are no social workers, doctors, nurses or psychologists employed by the centre to cater for the medical, social or psychological needs of the children housed there.
Military-style parades and inspections take place at the beginning and end of each day as well as before meals, and whipping of children is common as a punishment even for very minor offences. In cases where the individual child who has committed an offence cannot be identified, a collective penalty is applied whereby all the children are subject to punishment.
Children are most commonly made to work on the construction and maintenance of buildings, whilst a few who receive recommendations for behaviour or earn the favour of supervisors, are allowed to work as cleaners or gardeners in the houses of police officers.
This treatment does not meet the demands of Article 40 of the Convention on the Rights of the Child which recognizes “the right of every child alleged as, accused of, or recognized as having infringed the penal law to be treated in a manner consistent with the promotion of the child’s sense of dignity and worth.”
As is evident from the above figures, theft is the most common crime for which children are detained in the Al Giraif centre, indicating towards the likelihood of poor economic circumstances before being taken into the institution. Moreover since 1998, there has been an overall increase in the number of children taken into the reform centre due in large part to the Public Order Act of that year which makes living on the streets a criminal offence punishable under article 16 of the Public Order Law.
The majority of girls in the centre are detained as a result of committing alcohol related offences, and it is thought likely that in these cases, children are used to trade in alcohol in order to obtain profits for adults."

Document(s): Open document