Sudan agrees to hand over al-Bashir to ICC

Sudan’s government has agreed to hand over Omar Hassan al-Bashir to the International Criminal Court (ICC), officials said, along with other wanted officials.

Foreign minister Mariam al-Mahdi was quoted by state news agency Sudan News Agency (SUNA) as saying on Wednesday the cabinet had decided to hand over Bashir to the ICC, but did not give a time frame.

It is the strongest commitment yet by the government to  send the deposed leader to face charges of genocide and war crimes committed during his 30-year rule. Bashir was ousted two years ago and has been in jail since. 

Mahdi’s comments followed a meeting with ICC chief prosecutor Karim Khan, who held talks with Sudanese officials on accelerating steps to hand over war crimes suspects.

The ICC issued arrest warrants in 2009 and 2010 for Bashir, accusing him of masterminding atrocities in his campaign to crush a revolt in the western region of Darfur. About 300,000 people were killed and 2.5-million driven from their homes.

 “We will accomplish our mission in order to achieve the expectations of the international community, especially with regard to Security Council resolutions to achieve justice towards the heroes of Darfur, the victims and the living, who are hungry to achieve justice,” Khan said.

Khan also met Gen Mohamed Hamdan Dagalo, first vice-president of Sudan’s Sovereign Council, who “affirmed Sudan’s readiness to co-operate” with the ICC, adding that justice was one of the pillars on which the revolution that deposed Bashir was based, SUNA said.

Sudan’s cabinet has already agreed to join the ICC and hand over those wanted by the court, but the decision also needed the approval of the Sovereign Council.

Another of the key people accused of war crimes and genocide in Darfur, Ahmed Haroun, said in May he would prefer to be tried by the ICC rather than by what he said were biased Sudanese courts.

Abdel Raheem Muhammad Hussein, a former interior minister, is also wanted by the ICC on charges of crimes against humanity and war crimes.

Abdallah Banda Abakaer Nourain, former leader of the Justice and Equality movement, one of two significant armed groups in Darfur that signed a peace deal with the transitional authorities last year, also faces war crimes charges.

Ali Kushayb, another Bashir ally, surrendered to the ICC in the Central African Republic in June 2020. Khan will visit Sudan in September to collect evidence for Khushayb’s case, asking for the authorities’ help in easing the court delegation’s efforts, SUNA said.

Haroun and Hussein are now imprisoned in Sudan. Nourain is at large.

With Staff Writer

Reuters