Sudan and the road to the International Criminal Court Written by Osman Gasm Alsaed

05:54 PM August, 04 2021

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Yesterday, the Sudanese Council of Ministers unanimously approved a decision to join the Rome Statute that established the International Criminal Court. I find it a good step by the revolutionary government, and I have repeatedly called for the necessity of joining the International Criminal Court because of its positive aspects that achieve justice and accountability in the new Sudan, and adherence to the rule of law.”

The International Criminal Court is one of the most important means of achieving justice and lifting injustice against the families of the affected, the oppressed and the innocent, not only in Africa, as some claim, but in most countries and continents of the world.
I call upon the Government of Sudan not only to ratify and join the International Criminal Court alone, but to seek to ratify all agreements and covenants calling for the maintenance of human rights and world peace.
At the end of the nineties of the last century, Mr. Ali Mohamed Osman Yassin, the Minister of Justice at the time, signed the Rome Charter, but he returned and withdrew his signature after increasing international and local pressures on him regarding the situation in Darfur and the genocide that began there and for fear of later demanding the extradition of criminals and those accused of having committed crimes against humanity before the ICC International.

Since 2003, the Darfur region has witnessed a brutal war between the regime of the ousted Al-Bashir and the armed struggle movements, which led to the displacement and displacement of at least 3 million people, and an estimated 300,000 people were killed in this bloody conflict.

The UN Security Council referred the investigation into war crimes in Darfur to the International Criminal Court in 2005, and the court issued a decision in March 2009 to arrest the ousted President Al-Bashir and two of his top aides, Ahmed Haroun and Abdel Rahim Mohamed Hussein, and based on the fact that the ousted president, Al-Bashir, is primarily responsible for the crimes War and crimes against humanity Then the Criminal Court returned in October 2010 to issue a second arrest warrant against Al-Bashir on charges of committing genocide in Darfur.

Over the years, the successive governments of the ousted Bashir regime continued to reject the accusations of the court, saying that reports of mass killings in Darfur were exaggerated, and refused to recognize the court, saying that it was part of a Western conspiracy.

After the overthrow of the ousted Bashir regime and his arrest with senior leaders of his regime and the ratification by the government of Sudan yesterday headed by Dr. Abdallah Hamdok on the Rome Charter and the Criminal Court, I think that there are no legal obstacles, Kizanite or military barricades, and the intention here (partners of government from the military) is to hand over the ousted Bashir and the rest of those wanted to the Criminal Court.

43 African countries have signed the Rome Convention, while 34 countries have ratified it, which makes Africa the most representative region in the formation of the court, according to its officials.

Since 2009, the Criminal Court has indicted more than thirty people - and it tops the list of accused:
Sudanese President Omar al-Bashir
Nafie Ali Nafeh
Lieutenant General Salah Abdullah Ghosh
Lieutenant-General Abdullah Ali Safi Al Nour
Ahmed Mohamed Haroun
Ali Ahmed Karti
Tayeb Ibrahim Muhammad Khair
Mutrif Friend

Among the leaders of the Janjaweed:
Musa Hilal Musa
Hamed Dwai,
Abdullah Mustafa Abushnir
Seif Building
Omar Baboush
Ahmed Dekir
Ahmed Abu Kamashe
Abdul Hamid Musa Kasha
Abdul Rahim Muhammed Hussain
Major General Adam Hamed Musa
Brigadier General Mohamed Ahmed Ali
Muhammad Yusuf Abdullah
Abdel Rahim Ahmed Mohamed
Ahmed Mohamed Haroun
Osman Yusuf Kiber (Governor of North Darfur State)
Taher Hassan Abboud
Mohammed Saleh Al-Senussi
Muhammad Yousef Al-Talit (Minister of State)
Major General Hussein Abdullah Jibril
He is a member of the National Assembly (Parliament).
Brigadier General Abdul Wahed Syed Ali Syed
Brigadier General Mohamed Ibrahim Genesto
Major Hussein Tangouz
Major Omar Abbas

The list also included the people most wanted for their military roles:
Major General Abdul Karim Abdullah
(Sudanese intelligence chief)
Major General Awad Abnaouf
(Head of Military Intelligence)

The International Criminal Court had approved the charges against one of the most prominent militia leaders in Darfur, Ali Muhammad Ali Abd al-Rahman, known as “Ali Kushayb” with war crimes and crimes against humanity, and referred him to trial before a preliminary circuit, to face 31 charges.

#Finally

Handing over the wanted persons for trial before the International Criminal Court represents an investigation of justice, redress for the victims and an end to impunity. I find it a strong message to Sudan’s leaders in the future, whether military or civilians, that puts all of them under the threat of the matter, trial and punishment in the event of committing crimes against humanity or imposing a de facto authority system.
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04.08.2021
Written by Osman Gasm Alsaed

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