Sudan will hand over to the International Criminal Court (ICC) its former president, Omar al-Bashir and his close associates, accused of war crimes during the conflict in Darfur. Foreign Minister Mariam al-Mahdi has in a press release Wednesday, August 11, informed that the Council of Ministers has taken the decision to hand over the wanted persons to the ICC.
According to sources familiar with the matter, it was on the sidelines of the visit to Khartoum of the new prosecutor general of the Hague-based tribunal, Karim Khanen, that everything was planned. Now, the former Sudanese president and his “gang” will be held accountable for their “criminal acts” perpetrated during the war in Darfur, which began on February 26, 2003.
A conflict that has caused impressive damage in the country with more than 10,000 dead, according to data from the government of Omar al-Bashir. But according to the United States and some NGOs, the number of victims is around 300,000 dead and 2.7 million displaced, including 230,000 refugees in Chad.
Moreover, the United Nations Commission of Inquiry speaks of crimes against humanity in this region where human rights have been fundamentally violated. Noting that the Sudanese justice can or does not want to do anything to remedy it, the body transmits the file to the ICC.
