| Submit your comments on this article |
| East/Subsaharan Africa |
| Sudan sez they have to carry out barbaric sentences 'cuz the Koran sez so... |
| 2002-08-26 |
| Sudan has rejected pleas to overturn death sentences on 88 people convicted of involvement in a bloody tribal clash despite pleas from rights group Amnesty International. The clash between the al-Muaalia and Reizagat tribes in May left more than 50 dead in western Sudan. A special court heard the case and in July sentenced 88 people to die by hanging or crucifixion. Ofergawdsake! Sudanese Justice Minister Ali Mohamed Osman Yassin said the government, which imposes Islamic sharia law, would not overturn the sentences because the death penalty was sanctioned by the Koran, the Muslim holy book. "It is part of our beliefs. Issues where there is a definitive text we have no choice but to abide by them," Yassin was quoted as saying by the daily al-Rai al-Aam. "It definitively sez, right there in the Koran, someplace or other, that we have to be ignorant and barbaric. We'd like to be civilized, but we have no choice..." In a statement on its Web site, Amnesty said the convicts had not received proper representation and that two of them were under the age of 18. It said the convicts had two more appeals. Meanwhile, they're setting up the crosses and the headsman's sharpening his scimitar... The tribal clash in the western state of Southern Darfur broke out after two al-Muaalia tribesmen killed a member of the Reizagat tribe in an argument at a market place. It's that "religion of peace" thing... |
| Posted by:Fred Pruitt |
| #2 50 dead... sounds like many of the people facing the death penalty did some thngs that might get them in a lot of trouble here too. Crucifixtion is way over the top, but frankly if 50 people were left dead dead in my home town, I'd be just fine with seeing a few people swaying at the end of a rope for it. The methods are crude, and the legal system is crappy, and it has ever been thus. I hope the appeals process gives those people decent representation, and a number of them get reduced sentences. That said, executions will certainly make people think twice about deadly escalation of inter-tribal feuds. Those who read Greek history might recall a guy named Draco, who dealt with a lawless situation in a rather similar way. To this day, people still argue whether he was over the top or the guy who laid the foundations of law and order that allowed a greater civilization to emerge. Steve, your comments re: Amnesty and Mrs. Robinson were bang-on. Except that I think the final number will be lower than 88, and I think some of them probably deserve to die. Hopefully, the final number and the deserving number will come a little bit closer together with international attention on the case. |
| Posted by: Joe 2002-08-27 07:07:42 |
| #1 This is actually a major deal. No, not the fact that 88 poor slobs in the Sudan will die unjustly -- that's a near daily occurence. What's big is that Amnesty International is actually criticizing a Muslim country! Any chance Amnesty could take a peek at, well, the mother just axed by some Paleo goons for being a suspected collaborator? Especially since the "evidence" was collected by the torture of her son, and turned out to be unfounded? No, of course not. And Mary Robinson hasn't said a word, either. Regards, |
| Posted by: Steve White 2002-08-26 15:14:20 |