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UNAMID Rule of Law Section organizes Criminal Justice Forums in Darfur

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07 January 2021

Last December two Criminal Justice Forums were organized in Darfur, Sudan by UNAMID’s Rule of Law Section  for 60 participants, including 19 women.

Last December, UNAMID’s Rule of Law Section (RoLS) organized two Criminal Justice Forums in Central and North Darfur for a total of 60 participants, including people with varied legal backgrounds from entities such as the Bar Association, the judiciary, the prosecution service, the police, prisons, civil society, the Legal Administration Departments and academia.

The first forum was conducted in collaboration with the Central Darfur State Judiciary in Zalingei and involved 30 participants, among which seven were women; the second one was conducted in Kutum also with 30 participants,  including 12 women. The goal of these forums was to help enhance the collaboration between all of the actors involved in the justice system, as well as to help identify and find solutions to fallacies in justice administration. The expectation was that the forums would lead to a better understanding of the specific roles of all of the stakeholders, as well as of the functions of the criminal justice system in general. In turn, the RoLS hopes that  this will lead to better coordination between the parties, increase awareness over the rights of vulnerable groups, ensure a more equal access to justice, improve the rule of law and finally, contribute to the protection of civilians.

During the forums, the participants most notably expressed worries over the increased frequency of attacks targeting civilians and the resettlement of internally displaced persons to their native lands; they further noted the inadequacy (or lack) of the professionals and infrastructures needed to deal with serious crimes, thus leading to a neglect of the rights of victims and hampering the ability to deliver justice. Nevertheless, they highlighted the importance of the forums and suggested that the experience should be repeated, while also saluting the Chief of RoLS Ms. Simard’s declaration in favour of further support from the UN in Darfur.

 

To know more, please read:

https://unamid.unmissions.org/unamid-rule-law-section-organizes-criminal-justice-forums-60-participants-darfur

 

Author: Charoula Papastefanaki; Editor: Maxime Grenier

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