Amnesty International on Friday said ex-Sudanese president Omar al-Bashir must face justice for crimes under international law, including genocide, crimes against humanity and war crimes that he allegedly committed in Darfur while in power. The appeal comes two days ahead of the start of Bashir’s trial on corruption charges on Sunday, August 18, in Khartoum.
“While this trial is a positive step towards accountability for some of his alleged crimes, he remains wanted for heinous crimes committed against the Sudanese people,” said Joan Nyanyuki, Amnesty International’s Director for East Africa, the Horn and the Great Lakes.
Nyanyuki said the Sudanese authorities must hand Bashir over to the International Criminal Court to answer charges levied against him. He said the former President has evaded justice for far too long as the victims of horrific crimes still wait for justice and reparations more than ten years since the ICC issued the first arrest warrant on 4 March 2009 and the second on 12 July 2010.
“As military leaders edge closer to inking a long-awaited political agreement with the opposition coalition, the country’s new leadership must urgently ratify the Rome Statute of the International Criminal Court, which the country signed in 2000, and cooperate fully with the court,” Nyanyuki added.
The former Sudanese President, who was forced out of power in April following sustained protests against his three-decade rule, is accused of possessing foreign currency, corruption and receiving gifts illegally. One of the charges against him was related to about 7 million euros ($7.8m), which were given as a grant by a donor and was not included in the state budget.
On May 13, Bashir was also charged with incitement and involvement in the killing of protesters. In April, Sudan’s military ruler General Abdel Fattah al-Burhan said more than $113m worth of cash in three currencies had been seized from al-Bashir’s residence. He said the police team found the seven million euros, plus $350,000 and five billion Sudanese pounds ($105m).
