Originally issued as a CGS press release on July 12, 2008.
WASHINGTON, DC — The chief prosecutor of the International Criminal Court (ICC) is expected to seek an arrest warrant Monday for Sudanese President Omar Hassan al-Bashir, charging him with genocide and crimes against humanity in the orchestration of a campaign of violence that led to the deaths of hundreds of thousands of civilians in the nation’s Darfur region during the past five years. The charges could include war crimes, crimes against humanity and genocide. President Bashir has said his country faces a “vicious campaign”. He denies charges that his government was behind the violence in Darfur .
Over the last five years, more than two million people have fled their villages in Darfur , destroyed by pro-government Janjaweed militia. The Arab Janjaweed have been accused of ethnic cleansing and genocide against black African civilians, after rebels took up arms in protest at alleged government discrimination in 2003.
“The coming arrest warrants illustrate the ICC’s concrete efforts for Darfur ’s victims,” Don Kraus, CEO of Citizens for Global Solutions, said. “The Court is continuing to do its part. The U.S. and the international community must now do theirs. President Bush must supplement his rhetoric on Darfur with concrete action. Now is time for our administration to cooperate completely with the ICC’s prosecution of those responsible for the atrocities in Darfur . The Democratic leadship in Congress must also engage by elilmating negative policies that limit our nation’s ability to cooperate with the Court.”
The ICC accuses the entire Sudanese government of war crimes in Darfur , although the government denies organizing the Janjaweed.
The ICC has already issued arrest warrants for a minister and a militia leader on 51 counts of war crimes and crimes against humanity. There is concern that the fragile Darfur peace process could be further weakened, along with the shaky peace in South Sudan , where a separate civil war ended in 2005.
There are also UN peacekeepers in South Sudan . Sudan does not recognize the ICC and has refused to hand over a government minister and militia leader accused of war crimes last year.
Ali Kushayb, a leader of the Janjaweed militia, and Ahmad Harun, Sudan ‘s current humanitarian affairs minister have both denied involvement in war crimes.
For more information, please check out the “No Peace Without Justice: U.S. Must Cooperate with ICC on Darfur” briefing paper.
