Sudanese Doctors Union condemn reintroduction of cutting hand and foot

The reintroduction of cutting a right hand and left foot according to the islamic law in Sudan has stirred a worldwide outcry. On February 14 for the first time since 1983 doctors have amputated a man who has been convicted for robbery. The first mutilation sentencing fits in the announcement by president Omar al Bashir to make Sudan ‘hundred percent’ an Islamic state. He is following the example of the former president Nimeiry who introduced Sharia law in Sudan during the economic crisis in 1983. The international Sudanese Doctors Union has sent a letter to the Sudanese Medical council stating that the operation carried out in the Rebat Police Hospital was against the ethics of the medical profession. It asks for investigations and calling the council to punish those who are involved in the amputation. According to the spokesman in the Untited Kingdom the Sudanese Doctors Union has informed the World Health Organization and other international medical unions on the latest developments in Sudan. The convicted man who has lost his hand and foot is the 30-year old Adam al-Musanna. According to the court he was involved in an armed robbery at the border of North Kordofan and East Darfur in 2008. According to Reuters, Kamal al-Jazouli, a Sudanese lawyer and human rights activist, said the government apparently wanted to intimidate people with the amputation at a time of dissent over galloping inflation and corruption. “They want to instil fear in people. How can you punish a thief in such a draconian way in a poor country like Sudan?” A group of doctors organised in the opposition group “Change Now” also denounced the amputation. “Hospitals and medical institutions are there to treat people and not to execute such rulings,” it said in a statement. Last year, Sudanese courts sentenced two women for adultery to stoning, but they were released by a higher court ruling. The African Centre for Justice and Peace Studies (ACJPS), Human Rights Watch, REDRESS and Physicians for Human Rights (PHR) called on Sudanese leaders and international actors to condemn the practice immediately, and to urge swift reform of Sudanese laws in conformity with Sudan’s international human rights commitments. “Cross amputation is a form of state-sponsored torture,” said Dr. Vincent Iacopino, senior medical advisor at Physicians for Human Rights. “The complicity of medical personnel in such practices represents a gross contravention of the UN Principles of Medical Ethics for health personnel, particularly medical doctors who engage, actively or passively, in acts of torture or other cruel, inhuman or degrading treatment or punishment.” “Amputations violate the absolute prohibition of torture and cruel, inhuman or degrading treatment or punishment under international law and have no place in any criminal justice system,” said Osman Hummaida, executive director of the African Centre for Justice and Peace Studies (ACJPS). “Authorities should immediately stop imposing such cruel and inhuman punishments, and bring laws in line with Sudan’s human rights obligations,” said Daniel Bekele, Africa director at Human Rights Watch. “They should stop ordering amputations, stoning, flogging and all other forms of corporal punishment that violate basic human rights.” As a party to the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights, Sudan has made a commitment to an absolute ban on torture and cruel, inhuman or degrading treatment or punishment. “The practice of corporal punishment in Sudan is frequently used as an instrument of repression against those who do not conform to the State’s conception of moral order”, said Dr. Lutz Oette, Counsel at REDRESS. “The Government of Sudan needs to abide by its international obligations and put an end to any form of corporal punishment in line with the ruling of the African Commission.”(Sources: Radio Dabnanga, Reuters). Picture: Ribat Teaching Hospital (Wikipedia)