Sudan's 'sham' justice condemned

Jem leader Abd-al-Aziz Nur Ushar was one of those sentenced to hang

A human rights group has strongly condemned Sudan's special "anti-terror" courts after eight alleged Darfur rebels were sentenced to death.

Hundreds of people remain unaccounted for after a rebel attack near the capital, says Amnesty International.

The government is also preparing to try 109 people in "sham" courts for the attack in May, the group said.

The government has previously promised that anyone arrested for the attack would receive a fair military trial.

Among those sentenced to death on Sunday was senior Justice and Equality Movement (Jem) official, Abd-al-Aziz Nur Ushar.

Sudan's anti-terrorism special courts are nothing but a travesty of justice Amnesty International

Mr Ushar is the half-brother of Jem leader Khalil Ibrahim.

More than 220 people were reported to have been killed in the attack on Omdurman, the twin city of the capital, Khartoum.

It represented the first time rebels had got so close to the capital in five years of conflict, and the government reacted with a security crackdown and mass arrests.

There were unconfirmed reports of summary executions during the crackdown.

'Torture'

The government set up special courts in Omdurman and Khartoum to try suspects.

So far, a total of 38 people have been sentenced to death.

"Sudan's anti-terrorism special courts are nothing but a travesty of justice," Amnesty International's deputy director for Africa, Tawanda Hondora, said in a statement.

"Some of the people sentenced [on Sunday] only met their lawyers for the first time during the trial, while several said they suffered torture when they were held incommunicado and that they were forced to confess to crimes."

The group said that those being held without charge or access to lawyers included women and a nine-month-old boy.

Jem is one of several rebel groups fighting the government and pro-government Janjaweed militia in Sudan's western Darfur region over alleged discrimination by the authorities in favour of Arabs.

The UN estimates that some 300,000 people have died in the conflict in Darfur and more than 2 million have been displaced.

Sudan has accused neighbouring Chad of backing Jem, which Chad denies.

Chad and Sudan are seen to be fighting a proxy war using each other's rebels.