SUDAN. TWO TROOPS TO HANG FOR DARFUR MURDER

November 16, 2005: it was reported that two Sudanese soldiers were sentenced to death by a special court set up to try crimes in the country's western strife-torn Darfur region for murdering a civilian there. The special tribunal in Al-Fashir, capital of North Darfur, found Lance Corporal Bekheit Mohamed Bekheit and Lance Corporal Abdel Malik Abdallah Mohamed guilty of the premeditated murder of Adam Idriss Mohamed Hamid.
The soldiers arrested Hamid in Darfur in 2004 on suspicion of involvement with the Darfur rebellion. Witnesses said they saw the troops beat Hamid severely after which he died. The Special Criminal Tribunal, which began work in June, was set up to avoid cases of alleged human rights violations carried out in Darfur being brought before the International Criminal Court in The Hague. Darfur rebels had little faith in the courts set up by Khartoum, saying they would only try common law cases, such as murder, rather than cases of alleged crimes against humanity. (Sources: Agence France Presse, 16/11/2005)