NCJ Number
166425
Journal
Crime and Justice International Volume: 13 Issue: 3 Dated: April 1997 Pages: 14-16
Editor(s)
R. H. Ward
Date Published
April 1997
Length
3 pages
Annotation
A recent report by the Lawyers Committee for Human Rights analyzes the impact of the Sudan government's imposition of Islamic law on the country's criminal justice system and evaluates the extent to which this action has affected Sudan's compliance with its international human rights obligations.
Abstract
The report concludes that many abuses in Sudan are not directly related to the government's Islamic ideology. Instead, they follow patterns common to many types of governments. Islam has been an enduring element in the history, politics, and law of Sudan for centuries. The National Islamic Front is part of a global phenomenon of Islamic revivalism and is an ideological movement that seeks comprehensive reform of Muslim society. The gross human rights violations of the regime's early years have largely given way to more subtle methods of social control such as restrictions on the right to freedom of expression, opinion, religion, association, and movement. The government has criminalized political and ideological dissent, deployed a multifaceted security apparatus, and installed a system of rewards and punishments based on adherence to governmental policies. Executive control over the judiciary and the conduct of the courts has seriously compromised the rule of law in Sudan. However, citizens' right to the system of their choice does not grant the government the right to disregard basic freedoms guaranteed by the international human rights treaties that Sudan has signed; the country's challenge is to ensure that every citizen enjoys the full range of these freedoms. Photograph