Thursday, March 5, 2009

ICC Issues Arrest Warrant for al-Bashir

On March 4, 2009, Pre-Trial Chamber I of the International Criminal Court (ICC) issued an arrest warrant for Sudanese President Omar Hassan Ahmad al-Bashir for war crimes and crimes against humanity in relation to attacks against civilian populations of Darfur, Sudan. 

The warrant includes 7 counts on the basis of al-Bashir's individual criminal responsibility: five counts of crimes against humanity (murder, extermination, forcible transfer, torture, and rape), as well as two counts of war crimes (intentionally directing attacks against a civilian population as such or against individual civilians not taking direct part in hostilities and pillaging). The majority of the Chamber, with Judge Anita UĊĦacka dissenting, declined to include the crime of genocide in the arrest warrant based on the Prosecution's failure to provide reasonable grounds to believe that the government of Sudan acted with specific intent to destroy, in whole or in part, the Fur, Masalit and Zaghawa groups. The Judges noted, however, that the Prosecution may request an amendment to the warrant of arrest in order to include the crime of genocide if the Prosecution gathers additional evidence. See the Rome Statute for the statutory bases of these charges.

For more information, please see the ICC's Press Release. See also "ICC Faces Deferral of al-Bashir Prosecution."