THE SUDAN: The Armed Missionary

Dressed in a tan safari suit with a military cut, he sat at a table in the well of the crowded courtroom. There was a long, ugly scar on the side of his face —mute testimony to his occupation. As TV floodlights played on his shaved head, his eyes glanced over the galleries as if in search of a friendly face. He found none—only an Arabic sign with a verse from the Koran: "If you are to judge someone, be fair."

Then, as paratroopers trained rifles at the defendant's chest, the prosecutor rose to address the five-member military tribunal in...