March 15
SUDAN:
Violence Against Women, Arbitrary Detention/Risk of death penalty
World Organization Against Torture (Geneva)
PRESS RELEASE
March 15, 2005
Geneva
The International Secretariat of OMCT has requests your urgent
intervention concerning the following situation in Sudan.
Brief description of the situation
The International Secretariat of OMCT has been informed by the Sudan
Organisation Against Torture (SOAT), a member of the OMCT network, that on
11 February 2005, police forces in Zalingy, Western Darfur State, arrested
Mrs. Fanna Souker Saw, 26 yrs, a Christian woman belonging to the Dinka
tribe, on suspicion of committing adultery (Zina).
According to the information received, Mrs. Fanna's husband Mr. Dominic
Abiro Coca, a sergeant working for the armed forces brought the case of
alleged 'Zina' against Mrs. Fanna to the police forces in Zalingy. Mr.
Dominic alleges that Mrs. Fanna is his wife and that he has been absent
from Zalingy for two years and that she had conceived and given birth in
his absence. Reportedly the baby is 7 months old.
Mrs. Fanna is currently detained at police offices in Zalingy and is
charged with article 146 (Adultery) of the 1991 Penal Code. If convicted,
Mrs. Fanna is at risk of execution by stoning.
OMCT is gravely concerned for the physical and psychological integrity of
Mrs. Fanna Souker Saw and stresses that it is strongly opposed to stoning
as well as the death penalty which violates human rights in particular the
right not to be subjected to torture and cruel, inhuman or degrading
treatment or punishment and the right to life as proclaimed in the
Universal Declaration of Human Rights and other international human rights
instruments.
OMCT's Violence against Women Programme is concerned that laws that
criminalize adultery and sexual relations outside of marriage are often
used as mechanisms to circumscribe and control female sexuality and their
implementation frequently discriminates against women. In addition,
evidentiary requirements that provide that pregnancy constitutes
irrefutable "evidence" of adultery or that give less weight to the
testimony of women reinforce the gender discrimination in the
administration of justice, which results in women being sentenced to
corporal or capital punishment in far larger numbers than men.
Requested Action:
Please write to the authorities in Sudan urging them to:
i. guarantee the physical and psychological integrity of Mrs. Fanna Souker
Saw;
ii. order the immediate release of Mrs. Fanna Souker Saw in the absence of
valid legal charges that are consistent with international law and
standards;
iii. ensure women the right to be free from discrimination, including
violence, in line with international laws and standards;
iv. ratify the Convention on the Elimination of All Forms of
Discrimination against Women as well as the Convention against Torture and
other Cruel, Inhuman or Degrading Treatment or Punishment;
v. guarantee the respect of human rights and the fundamental freedoms
throughout the country in accordance with national laws and international
humanitarian law and human rights standards.
Addresses:
Relevant Links
East Africa
North Africa
Women and Gender
Civil War and Communal Conflict
Human Rights
Sudan
His Excellency Lieutenant General Omar Hassan al-Bashir, President of the
Republic of Sudan, President' s Palace, PO Box 281, Khartoum, Sudan. Fax:
+ 249 183 783223
Mr. Ali Mohamed Osman Yassin, Minister of Justice and Attorney General,
Ministry of Justice, Khartoum, Sudan. Fax: + 249 183 788941
Mr. Mustafa Osman Ismail, Minister of Foreign Affairs, Ministry of
Foreign Affair, PO Box 873, Khartoum, Sudan. Fax: + 249 183 779383
Dr. Abdelmuneim Osman Mohamed Taha, Advisory Council for Human Rights, PO
Box 302, Khartoum, Sudan. Fax: + 249 183 770883
His Excellency Ambassador Mr. Mohamed Al- Hassan Ahmed Al-Haj, Permanent
Mission of the Republic of Sudan to the United Nations in Geneva, PO Box
335, 1211 Geneva, Switzerland, Fax: +4122 731 26 56, +41 22 716 19 70,
E-mail: [email protected].
Please also write to the embassies of Sudan in your respective country.
NORTHERN IRELAND:
Death Penalty Should Be Used For Terrorists
The IRA's meeting with the sisters of murder victim Robert McCartney is
further proof of it being inextricably linked with Sinn Fein.
The sick offer to shoot their members who carried out the callous murder,
is only made because the May elections are on the horizon.
The decision by Tony Blair's government to take extraordinary action
against Muslim extremists and yet to only cut IRA/Sinn Fein allowances is
scandalous.
If the IRA was willing to instigate the death penalty for rampant
republicans, why shouldn't the lawabiding public demand this same sentence
for terrorist murderers?
Councillor Robin Newton MLA, DUP East Belfast
(source: Letter to the Editor, News Letter)
CHINA:
Wen says China will keep death penalty
Premier Wen Jiabao told reporters in Beijing Monday China would continue
to use the death penalty as punishment in certain crimes.
Wen's remark was in response to a German correspondent, who asked during
the news conference at the end of the 10-day National People's Congress
session if executions would stop before China hosts the 2008 Summer
Olympics.
Wen said measures were being taken to reform the country's judicial
system, but he said abolishing the death penalty was not among the
reforms.
"Half of the nations worldwide still employ the death penalty," he said.
However, Wen vowed to improve China's judicial mechanisms to ensure such
sentences were "given carefully and fairly."China refuses to officially
say how many people are executed per year, but most human rights groups
estimate the number in the thousands.
(source: United Press international)
