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| |  | | Omar Hassan Ahmad Al-Bashir | | | context : | Darfur  | | judgement place : | ICC | | status : | Sought - Arrest warrant | | particulars : | Arrest warrant issued by the Court on 4 March 2009 for seven counts of crimes against humanity and war crimes | | position : | President of Sudan since 16 October 1993 |
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| | | | On 14 July 2008, the Prosecutor of the International Criminal Court (ICC) presented evidence showing that Omar Hassan Ahmad Al Bashir committed the crimes of genocide, crimes against humanity and war crimes in Darfur.
Three years after the Security Council requested him to investigate in Darfur, and based on the evidence collected, the Prosecutor concluded there were reasonable grounds to believe that Al Bashir bears criminal responsibility in relation to 10 counts of genocide, crimes against humanity and war crimes.
In Fall 2008, the Pre-Trial Chamber I of the ICC requested the Prosecution to present further evidence.
On 4 March 2009, the Chamber decided to issue an arrest warrant against Al-Bashir for war crimes and crimes against humanity perpetrated in Darfur. This is the ICC's first ever warrant issued against a sitting head of state.
The arrest warrant issued against Omar Al-Bashir lists a total of 7 counts as the basis of his individual criminal responsibility, including five counts of crimes against humanity (murder, extermination, forcible transfer, torture and rape) and two counts of war crimes (the act of intentionally directing attacks against a civilian population as such or against individual civilians not taking direct part in hostilities and pillaging).
The Court decided not to include the charge of genocide despite the fact that the prosecutor had strongly pushed for it. The Chamber indicated that there was not enough evidence to prove that the Government of Sudan acted with specific intent to destroy, in whole or in part, the Fur, Masalit and Zaghawa groups. However, the judges declared themselves open to amending the indictment to add a charge of genocide should the Prosecution bring additional evidence.
The ICC acknowledged that the violence in Darfur has been the result of a common plan organised at the highest level of the Sudanese government. Omar Al-Bashir is suspected of having intentionally directed, as an indirect (co-) perpetrator, attacks against a large part of the civilian population of Darfur. These crimes were allegedly committed during a counter-insurgency campaign that started in April 2003 and it is alleged that they have since been orchestrated and conducted by the Sudanese Government against the rebel movements in Darfur, especially the Movement / Sudan Liberation Army (SLM / A) and Movement for Justice and Equality (JEM).
The ICC will now transmit to the Government of Sudan, all members of the Security Council of the United Nations, all States Parties to the Rome Statute and any other State as may be necessary, a request for the arrest and surrender of Al-Bashir.
It is likely that this request will have no result in Sudan, which had already refused to hand over Ahmed Harun and Ali Kushayb (see “related cases”). The Sudanese authorities do not recognize the legitimacy of the Court. The President clearly rejected the arrest warrant. The cooperation of Member States of the African Union and the Arab League may also be low. They argue mainly that the peace process should not be jeopardized and that the ICC targets only the African continent. In case of failure to comply with cooperation obligations to the Court, the competent Chamber may refer the matter to the United Nations Security Council.
On 6 July 2009, the Prosecutor lodged an appeal against the decision of 4 March, requiring the Appeals Chamber to decide whether the Pre-Trial Chamber erred in considering that the crime of genocide should not be included in the arrest warrant.
On 3 February 2010, the Trial Chamber confirmed the Prosecutor's approach by reversing the Pre-Trial Chamber's decision. | |     click for more... | | Trial Watch would like to remind its users that any person charged by national or international authorities is presumed innocent until proven guilty. | |  |  | | nationality : | | | Sudan | | | date of birth : | | | 01.01.1944 | | | last time seen : | | | Khartoum, Sudan | | | charges : | | | Crimes against humanity
Genocide
War crimes | | | profile last modified : | | | 04.02.2010 |
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