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Khartoum: The United Nations on Thursday raised concerns Sudanese anti-terrorism courts which condemned 30 Darfur rebels to death did not meet international standards and urged the appeals courts to review the sentences.
Defence lawyers have asked Sudan's Constitutional Court to overturn the sentences, saying the special courts formed to try those alleged to have been involved in a May attack on the capital were unconstitutional.
"It would appear that the accused were only given access to lawyers after the trials began; confessions were obtained while the accused were held incommunicado and in the absence of legal counsel, and the court did not investigate allegations of ill treatment," a statement from the head of the UN mission in Sudan, Ashraf Qazi said.
He added there was an extremely limited appeals process and encouraged Sudan to abolish capital punishment.
The accused are allowed one appeal within one week under the rules of the special court while in normal Sudanese judicial proceedings they would have up to four chances to appeal over a much longer time period.
"In capital punishment cases especially, the government has an obligation to rigorously observe all fair trial guarantees set out in the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights to which Sudan is a State party," Qazi's statement added.
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