Tony Karumba/AFP/Getty Images
In what Chief Justice Chan Reech calls "a step in the right direction," South Sudan plans to introduce mobile courts to solve problems related to a lack of judges and judicial infrastructure that have left some defendants languishing in prison for five years without trial, the Associated Press reports.
The world's newest country, which has only 120 judges to serve a population of more than 8 million, announced the new initiative this week:
In a June, Human Rights Watch issued a report that found that prisoners in South Sudan were often detained arbitrarily, often not charged with crimes and frequently not provided with lawyers for their defense. The report said some prisoners were detained for up to five years without trial ...
"If you go to the countryside, there are no formal courts. There are no buildings like this," he said from a hotel in the capital city. "And I said, 'If we wait for these courts to be built it will take generations.' "
South Sudan peacefully broke away from Sudan last year, the culmination of a 2005 peace deal that ended decades of war. South Sudan, which is mainly populated by black Africans, maintained that leaders in Khartoum, the capital of the mostly Arab and Muslim country of Sudan, neglected funding for core government functions like schools, medical facilities and roads.
Reech said the Ministry of Justice plans to launch the mobile courts initiative -- a traveling band of police officials, judges, and ministry attorneys -- in a couple of weeks.
Human Rights Watch said when it launched its report that an effective justice system "is a fundamental building block for establishing rule of law and accountability."
Reech said the mobile courts are a step in the right direction.
Read more at the Boston Globe.
Like The Root on Facebook. Follow us on Twitter.
Newer articles:
- Taking the Long View for the Peoples of Sudan and South Sudan - Huffington Post (blog) - 16/10/2012 18:11
- Congolese refugees fear going home but feel unwelcome in South Sudan - Catholic News Service - 16/10/2012 12:14
- UPDATE 1-Sudan says will not reach 180000 bpd 2012 oil target - Reuters - 16/10/2012 10:01
- Seize South Sudan Trade opportunities, ministry tells SMEs - IPPmedia - 16/10/2012 04:29
- Farrow: We must end the obscenity of hunger - CNN - 15/10/2012 23:20
Older news items
- Joint Mechanism between Sudan, South Sudan to Defuse Border Tensions - Sudan Vision - 15/10/2012 16:50
- Replay: Video chat with South Sudan native Deborah Deng - Sioux Falls Argus Leader - 15/10/2012 14:14
- Eximbank helps extend hallyu to South Sudan - The Korea Herald - 15/10/2012 09:38
- From South Sudan refugee camps to glitzy London media awards night - ChristianToday - 15/10/2012 06:20
- The Addis Agreements: The Litmus Test of South Sudanese Political Integrity - Sudan Vision - 14/10/2012 16:11
Latest news items (all categories):
- South Sudan needs ‘civic education’ before elections, says bishop - 16/01/2025 16:42
- South Sudan parties set to resume peace talks in Kenya - 16/01/2025 16:39
- Abandoned but not forgotten – the invisible crisis in South Sudan - 16/01/2025 16:35
- The SAF has committed barbaric atrocities against South Sudanese refugees in Wad Medani - 16/01/2025 16:27
- Syria 2025: The historical Syrian project: From revolution to a modern inclusive civil state - 16/01/2025 16:10
Random articles (all categories):
- South Sudan: Humanitarian Snapshot (May 2024) - 23/06/2024 17:06
- Women farmers transform South Sudan’s marshlands into fish farms and vegetable gardens - 02/03/2022 02:19
- Sudan's Bashir to Juba for Tuesday summit: media - 19/10/2013 21:00
- 2015 Cecafa Cup: Stalemate in first-ever Sudan derby - 25/11/2015 09:17
- No longer afraid to go to school: How access to sanitary pads changes lives in South Sudan - 28/05/2018 11:47
Popular articles:
- Who is the darkest person in the world, according to Guinness World Record? - 25/10/2022 02:34 - Read 61775 times
- No oil in troubled waters - 25/03/2014 15:02 - Read 22308 times
- School exam results in South Sudan show decline - 01/04/2012 17:58 - Read 21496 times
- NDSU student from South Sudan receives scholarship - In-Forum - 29/09/2012 01:44 - Read 19063 times
- Top 10 weakest currency exchange rates in Africa in 2023 - 19/07/2023 00:24 - Read 18824 times