Army officer sentenced to death for rape in South Darfur

The South Darfur Special Crimes Court sentenced an army officer to death on Tuesday.

After the accused was found guilty of raping a girl in the South Darfur capital of Nyala, judge Mohamed El Motazz sentenced him to death, a listener reported to Radio Dabanga.

He said that “the medical report and interrelated evidences proved strong enough to convict the defendant”.

On 10 November, the Darfur Crimes Court in El Geneina, capital of West Darfur, sentenced a police officer to a fine and 20 years in prison for raping a girl in the city.

A week later, the Darfur Crimes Court in Nyala sentenced two men accused of hijacking to imprisonment for the period of three years. On the same day, the El Geneina Darfur Crimes Court sentenced two men charged with robbery to 60 lashes, a fine, and four years in prison.

The Sudanese government established a number of special Darfur Crimes Courts in 2005, after the International Criminal Court announced it would investigate war crimes committed in Darfur so far.

According to Khartoum, international intervention was not needed. Local courts would be more than able to examine the crimes committed since the eruption of armed conflict in 2003.