Subject: 'Cross amputation' of sixteen-year-old in Sudan

P-3402/03EN 
Answer given by Mr Nielson

on behalf of the Commission

(10 December 2003)

The application of corporal punishment has been subject to repeated interventions with the Government of Sudan, in the framework of the EU-Sudan political dialogue, which includes human rights as one of the main components. The reaction of the Government in Khartoum has usually been elusive, pointing out that Sharia is and will be the legal basis in Sudan. This has also been confirmed, at least for the northern and central part of the country, in the Machakos Protocol of July 2002, an important milestone in the peace process, which the Union generally supports.

The Commission will ask its Delegation in Khartoum to inquire about the circumstances and details of the case referred to by Amnesty International, and bring the case to the attention of the Union Troika with a view to raising it during the forthcoming high-level mission to Khartoum in December 2003.