Sudan’s recently-deposed President Omar al-Bashir must appear before the International Criminal Court (ICC), the Coalition of the International Criminal Court (CICC) said today.
President Omar al-Bashir, who ruled Sudan with an iron fist for 30 years has been wanted by the ICC for alleged crimes against humanity, war crimes, and genocide committed in Darfur since 2009
He has been indicted by the International Criminal Court in The Hague and is facing an arrest warrant over allegations of genocide in Sudan’s Darfur region during an insurgency that began in 2003 and led to death of an estimated 300,000 people.
“Al-Bashir is subject to 2 ICC arrest warrants on suspicion of being responsible for massive human rights violations amounting to the most serious of crimes. Sudan, with support from the international community, must ensure that he is surrendered to the Court to stand trial for these unimaginable atrocities,” said William Pace, Convenor of the Coalition for the ICC.
Bashir was on Thursday overthrown in a coup by the armed forces which announced a two-year period of military rule to be followed by elections.
In an address on state television, Defence Minister Awad Mohamed Ahmed Ibn Auf said Bashir, 75, was under arrest in a "safe place" and a military council was now running the country.
“The Sudanese people have spoken and al-Bashir has been toppled. But his crimes will not be forgotten. He must not receive refuge or safe haven. He must be sent to the ICC. He must face justice,” said Mustafa Adam Ahmed Hussain, Darfuri Activist and Director of Zarga Organization for Rural Development, Sudan.
“The new government authorities of Sudan must surrender al-Bashir, as well as Ahmad Muhammad Harun, Ali Muhammad Ali Abd-Al-Rahman (Ali Kushayb”), Abdel Raheem Muhammad Hussein, and Abdallah Banda Abakaer Nourain to the ICC in order to provide justice to the victims of the international crimes and the other perpetrators of the human right violations that have been committed in the country.
Any and all of their accomplices should be tried before competent national courts as part of a transitional justice process that must go hand-in-hand with a genuine transition to democracy,” said Amir Suliman, Legal Programme Director, African Center for Justice and Peace Studies (ACJPS), Sudan.
“Sudan is a country at a crossroads. The international community must support the transitional authorities and the people of Sudan in ensuring that al-Bashir and other ICC suspects are transferred to The Hague and brought to justice before the ICC for charges of crimes against humanity and war crimes,” Pace continued.
The victims of Sudan have waited far too long for acknowledgment, justice, and reparation for the crimes they have suffered. Justice delayed is a travesty; justice denied is simply unacceptable,” said Kirsten Meersschaert, Director of Programs, Coalition for the ICC.
Earlier on Friday, the head of the Sudan’s military council General Omar Zain al-Abideen announced that it would not extradite Bashir to face allegations of genocide at the international war crimes court. Instead he would go on trial in Sudan.
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