A/HRC/25/60/Add.2 perpetration of torture and other cruel, inhuman or degrading treatment or punishment and can in itself constitute a form of such treatment, and urges all States to respect the safeguards concerning the liberty, security and the dignity of the person and to ensure that secret places of detention and interrogation are abolished.” The Special Rapporteur calls on the Government to undertake a prompt and independent investigation of the torture and incommunicado detention of Mr. Hatim Ali Mohammed as well as the incommunicado detention of Mr. Sharf Eldein Tia, leading to prosecution and punishment of the perpetrators and to provide full redress to the victims. (c) JAL 15/08/2013 Case No. SDN 6/2013 State Reply: None to date Amendment of Sudan’s Armed Forces Law of 2007, adopted on 2 July 2013 by parliament, and its possible incompatibility with the right to a fair trial and due process, freedom of expression, the rights to liberty and security, the right to be free from torture and ill-treatment, and the right to life, particularly where defendants face the death penalty. 140. The Special Rapporteur regrets that the Government of Sudan has not responded to this communication, thereby failing to cooperate with the mandate issued by the Human Rights Council. The communication referred to the amendment of Sudan’s Armed Forces Law of 2007, the extension of the jurisdiction of military courts over civilians and the amendment’s possible incompatibility with the fundamental rights recognized in Sudan’s Interim National Constitution, as well as international human rights standards. The amendment reportedly stipulates that every person – irrespective of their military status or connection with Sudan’s armed forces – who commits or is suspected of committing any act undermining the security of the State is subject to the jurisdiction of Sudan’s military courts, thereby subjecting civilians to the jurisdiction of military courts in relation to a large number of broad and vaguely worded offences. It has been reported that under this amendment journalists, political opponents, human rights defenders and others have been prosecuted for their peaceful activities, particularly for exercising their freedom of expression. It is further alleged that a number of those individuals were tried before special courts in proceedings that did not meet fair trial standards, including by accepting evidence alleged to have been extracted under torture. These courts have reportedly imposed the death penalty in several cases. Regarding the allegation that military courts have accepted evidence extracted under torture and the allegation that military courts are unlikely to investigate torture committed by State agents, the Special Rapporteur reiterates that article 15 of the Convention against Torture and other cruel, inhuman and degrading treatment or punishment (CAT), which the Government of Sudan signed on 4 June 1986, provides that, “Each State Party shall ensure that any statement which is established to have been made as a result of torture shall not be invoked as evidence in any proceedings, except against a person accused of torture as evidence that the statement was made.” The Special Rapporteur would also like to reiterate that paragraph 7c of Human Rights Council Resolution 16/23 urges States “To ensure that no statement established to have been made as a result of torture is invoked as evidence in any proceedings, except against a person accused of torture as evidence that the statement was made, and calls upon States to consider extending that prohibition to statements made as a result of cruel, inhuman or degrading treatment or punishment, recognizing that adequate corroboration of statements, including confessions, used as evidence in any proceedings constitutes one safeguard for the prevention of torture and other cruel, inhuman or degrading treatment or punishment”. The Special Rapporteur requests that the Government reconsider the amendment of Sudan’s Armed Forces Law of 2007, which extends jurisdiction of the military court over civilians. (d) 102 UA 17/10/2013 Case No. SDN 7/2013 State reply: None to date: Allegations of beatings, arrests, incommunicado detention and excessive use of force, including lethal force, against demonstrators resulting 200 deaths