JURIST - Paper Chase: Sudan court sentences rebels to death for 2008 attack on Khartoum

[JURIST] A Sudanese court on Wednesday sentenced 11 members of the Darfur [JURIST news archive] rebel group the Justice and Equality Movement (JEM) [advocacy website; BBC backgrounder] to death by hanging for their involvement in a 2008 attack on Khartoum [BBC report]. Out of seven other defendants [Al Jazeera report] tried in the proceedings, five were acquitted and two had their cases transferred to a different court due to mental issues and age. On Tuesday, the rebel group rejected efforts to negotiate with the Sudanese government by citing a failure to cooperate [AFP report] in a recent deal and the recent death sentences [Reuters report] handed down to ten other members of the group. In August, a Sudanese court sentenced [JURIST report] eight other rebels to death in connection with the same attack.

Part of JEM's refusal to cooperate with the Sudanese government is the ousting of humanitarian groups within the country. In March, Human Rights Watch (HRW) [advocacy website] called on [JURIST report] the League of Arab States [official website, in Arabic] to urge Sudanese President Omar al-Bashir [BBC profile; JURIST news archive] to allow foreign aid agencies back into the country. In November, the Chief Prosecutor for the International Criminal Court [official website] (ICC) sought arrest warrants [JURIST report] for Darfur rebel group leaders for attacks unrelated to the 2008 Khartoum attacks. JEM agreed to cooperate [AFP report] but denied that any of their leaders were the subjects of the warrants.

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