CITIZENS FOR GLOBAL SOLUTIONS WELCOMES ICC GENOCIDE CHARGES AGAINST SUDANESE PRESIDENT OMAR AL-BASHIR

For immediate release: July 12, 2010

Contact: Abigail Long, Programs Coordinator
Phone: (202) 546-3950 x105
Email: along@globalsolutions.org

CITIZENS FOR GLOBAL SOLUTIONS WELCOMES ICC GENOCIDE CHARGES AGAINST SUDANESE PRESIDENT OMAR AL-BASHIR

WASHINGTON, DC – Citizens for Global Solutions praised the decision by the International Criminal Court to add genocide to the arrest warrant of Sudanese President Omar al-Bashir. Monday’s genocide charges against Bashir are contained in a second arrest warrant, which include the earlier charges of crimes against humanity and war crimes.

“Today’s charges are a critical step forward for the victims of Darfur. The ICC has taken a much needed step for justice by holding the world’s worst criminals legally accountable for their savage actions. This action sends a clear signal to future dictators that there is no immunity for genocide,” said Don Kraus, CEO of Citizens for Global Solutions.

It is the first time the ICC has issued genocide charges. The Court can bring charges for crimes against humanity, war crimes, genocide and ultimately aggression. Al-Bashir is the first sitting head of state ever indicted by the ICC. A warrant for his arrest was issued in March 2009.The charges stem from al-Bashir’s campaigns against the Fur, Masalit and Zaghawa ethnic groups in Darfur. During the seven-year conflict in Darfur, the United Nations estimates that up to 300,000 people died and 2.7 million have been forced from their homes. ICC Prosecutor Luis Moreno Ocampo accused al-Bashir of keeping an estimated 2.5 million refugees from specific ethnic groups in camps in conditions that caused many of their deaths.

The ICC has formal actions in five African countries: Kenya, Uganda, Democratic Republic of Congo, Central African Republic and Sudan.

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Citizens for Global Solutions is a grassroots organization which envisions a future in which nations work together to abolish war, protect our rights and freedoms, and solve the problems facing humanity that no nation can solve alone. This vision requires effective democratic global institutions that will apply the rule of law while respecting the diversity and autonomy of national and local communities.