Sudan: Stop Death Sentences and Executions of Civilians

Over the past two months, more than six death sentences against civilians have been recorded in areas controlled by Sudanese military forces. Two death sentences were handed down by courts in early June 2024. One was against a woman named Hanaa Daw Elbeit by a court in Port Sudan and the second against lawyer Eissa Ahmed in Blue Nile State. The Sudanese justice system uses Articles 50 and 51 of “attack on the state” against civilians accused of supporting the Rapid Support Forces (RSF) militia. Judges used the death penalty as the maximum sentence under the law for charges of treason against the state in most of the sentences handed down.

Lawyer Eissa Ahmed was sentenced to death by a local court in Blue Nile State on 11 June 2024. He was accused of allegedly supporting the RSF militia following posts and WhatsApp messages found on his phone. Hanaa Daw Elbeit was sentenced to death following a search of her phone where messages supporting RSF were allegedly found, in early June 2024 in a local circuit in Port Sudan. In addition, Shimaa Ahmed, a young woman sentenced to life in prison by the same court, was also sentenced to death. In Atbara, northern Sudan, a woman accused of supporting RSF was sentenced to death in May 2024. In March 2024, a court in Algadarif sentenced a man to death, following accusations of allegedly working with RSF and posting a Facebook message supporting the militia. Last month, another man was sentenced to death on the same charge after he was arrested by joint forces in Alagdarif.

Earlier this year, a woman in her sixties died in a detention center in Atbara after spending more than five months in poor conditions without access to medical care. She had also been arrested on charges of supporting the militia.

The Sudanese Armed Forces (SAF) have been conducting a campaign of arrests against civilians based on their ethnicity in communities that support RSF, as well as against members of political parties and activists who call for an end to the war and are accused of supporting the militia. Following the adoption of laws restoring the former regime’s security forces in May, a joint force of SAF intelligence and former regime security services has been conducting a campaign of arrests in various SAF-controlled states. Dozens of civilians and activists are being detained either because of their ethnicity or because of their opinions or social media posts. Some detainees have been given short trials with limited access to legal aid. Lawyers and activists who have attempted to support the detainees have faced intimidation and threats. According to lawyers and local human rights groups, the legal procedures followed in some court decisions failed to grant detainees their fair trial rights.

In areas controlled by RSF, houses containing execution rooms have been discovered in Khartoum. Lists of people sentenced to death, including women, have been found in these houses. Reports of executions in RSF detention centres or deaths under torture have increased in recent months. According to testimonies from released detainees, the militia has carried out summary executions against detainees in recent months.

We, the undersigned groups and organizations, call upon:

• Sudanese authorities must ensure fair trials and access to legal aid for those detained or convicted of crimes.
• The international community must protect civilians and urge warring parties to uphold their obligations under international humanitarian law, including by ending all forms of targeting of civilians based on their ethnic or political affiliation, calling for fair trials and an end to the death penalty in Sudan.
• The United Nations Independent Fact-Finding Mission (FFM) on Sudan, tasked with documenting and investigating these serious human rights violations, will be included in the FFM’s report to the Human Rights Council in September 2024.
• The International Criminal Court must investigate these crimes and ensure that the perpetrators, namely the warring parties and their affiliated armed groups, are held accountable for their actions.
• States and international human rights organizations should support local groups and initiatives that document these crimes and provide legal assistance to detainees.

Signatories:

• Sudanese Women’s Rights Action (SUWRA)
• The Regional Coalition of Women Human Rights Defenders in South-West Asia and North Africa (WHRDMENA)
• International Service for Human Rights (ISHR)