Sudan to hand former President Omar al-Bashir, other officials to ICC

Sudan will hand over to the International Criminal Court (ICC) several of its former leaders, including deposed autocrat Omar al-Bashir, wanted for crimes against humanity and war crimes during the conflict in Darfur, the country’s foreign minister said on Wednesday.

“The Council of Ministers has decided to hand over the wanted persons to the International Criminal Court,” Mariam al-Mahdi, Sudan’s Minister of Foreign Affairs said.

The decision was made after a consultative meeting between the foreign ministry and the new chief prosecutor of the Hague-based court, Karim Khan, who was visiting Khartoum, the official Suna news agency reported.

The conflict in Darfur, a region in the west of the country, has opposed since 2003 the Arab-dominated regime of Mr. Bashir and rebels from ethnic minorities who consider themselves marginalized.

Al-Bashir’s government responded with a campaign of aerial bombings and raids by militias known as Janjaweed, who are accused of mass killings and rapes.
The conflict left an estimated 300,000 people dead and nearly 2.7 million displaced, mostly in the early years, according to the United Nations.

The court charged al-Bashir with war crimes and genocide for allegedly masterminding the campaign of attacks in Darfur. Sudanese prosecutors last year started their own investigation into the Darfur conflict.

Also indicted by the court are two other senior figures from al-Bashir’s rule: Abdel-Rahim Muhammad Hussein, interior and defense minister during much of the conflict, and Ahmed Haroun, a senior security chief at the time and later the leader of al-Bashir’s ruling party. Both Hussein and Haroun have been under arrest in Khartoum since the Sudanese military, under pressure from protesters, ousted al-Bashir in April 2019.

The court also indicted rebel leader Abdulla Banda, whose whereabouts are unknown, and Janjaweed leader Ali Kushayb, who was charged in May with crimes against humanity and war crimes.

The extradition date of the former Sudanese leaders has not been announced as it must be discussed between the government and the Sovereign Council, the highest body in charge of the transition.