Sudan's 'sham' justice condemned

[Aussie]

BBC NEWS | Africa | Sudan's 'sham' justice condemned

A human rights group has strongly condemned Sudan's special "anti-terror" courts after eight alleged Darfur rebels were sentenced to death. Hundreds of people remain unaccounted for after a rebel attack near the capital, says Amnesty International. The government is also preparing to try 109 people in "sham" courts for the attack in May, the group said. The government has previously promised that anyone arrested for the attack would receive a fair military trial. Among those sentenced to death on Sunday was senior Justice and Equality Movement (Jem) official, Abd-al-Aziz Nur Ushar. Sudan's anti-terrorism special courts are nothing but a travesty of justice Amnesty International Mr Ushar is the half-brother of Jem leader Khalil Ibrahim. More than 220 people were reported to have been killed in the attack on Omdurman, the twin city of the capital, Khartoum. It represented the first time rebels had got so close to the capital in five years of conflict, and the government reacted with a security crackdown and mass arrests. There were unconfirmed reports of summary executions during the crackdown. 'Torture' The government set up special courts in Omdurman and Khartoum to try suspects. So far, a total of 38 people have been sentenced to death. "Sudan's anti-terrorism special courts are nothing but a travesty of justice," Amnesty International's deputy director for Africa, Tawanda Hondora, said in a statement. "Some of the people sentenced [on Sunday] only met their lawyers for the first time during the trial, while several said they suffered torture when they were held incommunicado and that they were forced to confess to crimes." The group said that those being held without charge or access to lawyers included women and a nine-month-old boy.

Hmmm, sounds strangely familiar....(minus executions)

[Gods_Mercenary]

Anything called anti-terrorist is guaranteed to not be about countering terrorists, actual acts of terror are too rare in most countries to justify it, and terrorist is a wonderful label to put on people who don't fit the definition but you want to discredit. Even highly elite "counter-terrorist" units that most significant powers have are just multi-purpose spec. ops that need a justification for their secrecy and lethality.

[grandpa]

Quote by: Gods_Mercenary Anything called anti-terrorist is guaranteed to not be about countering terrorists, actual acts of terror are too rare in most countries to justify it, and terrorist is a wonderful label to put on people who don't fit the definition but you want to discredit. Even highly elite "counter-terrorist" units that most significant powers have are just multi-purpose spec. ops that need a justification for their secrecy and lethality.

This is true. For example, during Vietnam the anti-war "terrorists" were overrunning the streets. And, of course, it could also be an act of "terrorism" to smash in a window of a McDonald's restaurant. It is indeed a term that can be applied very broadly.

And the terror label can be effective in getting one's own way":

"Saudi Arabia initially indicated that it would not allow the United
States to use its bases for a war against Iraq. But a senior Saudi
minister suggested recently that his country would let the United
States use its military bases in a United Nations-backed attack on
Iraq."

(" U.S. Taking Steps To Ready Forces For Iraq Fighting,"
By THOM SHANKER and ERIC SCHMITT, The New York Times)

Grandpa h.