ICC judges issue second warrant: Sudanese president wanted for genocide

12/07/2010 17:16

The Pre-Trial Chamber I of the International Criminal Court (ICC) today issued a second warrant of arrest against the President of Sudan, Omar Hassan Ahmad Al Bashir, considering that there are reasonable grounds to believe him responsible for three counts of genocide committed against the Fur, Masalit and Zaghawa ethnic groups. This follows an earlier arrest warrant issued on 4 March 2009 for war crimes and crimes against humanity, after which the Sudanese government expelled or disbanded 16 aid groups working in Darfur. At that time, judges had declined to issue a warrant for the count of genocide, but the prosecutor appealed the decision on 6 July 2009. The court now rules that Bashir may be guilty of “genocide by killing, genocide by causing serious bodily or mental harm and genocide by deliberately inflicting on each target group conditions of life calculated to bring about the group’s physical destruction.” The situation in Darfur was referred to the International Criminal Court by the United Nations Security Council’s resolution 1593, on 31 March, 2005. Sudan rejects the authority of the ICC and refused to hand over three suspects wanted for arrest, including Bashir himself.  

The Pre-Trial Chamber I of the International Criminal Court (ICC) today issued a second warrant of arrest against the President of Sudan, Omar Hassan Ahmad Al Bashir, considering that there are reasonable grounds to believe him responsible for three counts of genocide committed against the Fur, Masalit and Zaghawa ethnic groups.

This follows an earlier arrest warrant issued on 4 March 2009 for war crimes and crimes against humanity, after which the Sudanese government expelled or disbanded 16 aid groups working in Darfur. At that time, judges had declined to issue a warrant for the count of genocide, but the prosecutor appealed the decision on 6 July 2009.

The court now rules that Bashir may be guilty of “genocide by killing, genocide by causing serious bodily or mental harm and genocide by deliberately inflicting on each target group conditions of life calculated to bring about the group’s physical destruction.”

The situation in Darfur was referred to the International Criminal Court by the United Nations Security Council’s resolution 1593, on 31 March, 2005. Sudan rejects the authority of the ICC and refused to hand over three suspects wanted for arrest, including Bashir himself.