ICC: Sudan

UN Security Council Referral

For nearly three and a half years, a campaign of ethnic cleansing in Sudan's western region of Darfur has killed nearly 400,000 civilians. As many as 500 people continue to die each day. Because Sudan is not a member of the International Criminal Court (ICC), only the Security Council of the United Nations (UN) had the power to refer the atrocities in Sudan to the ICC.

On March 31, 2005, the Security Council voted to refer the situation in Darfur to the ICC. This marked an historic day because it was the first time the Security Council referred a situation to the ICC. Resolution 1593 passed 11-0 with four members abstaining: the United States, Algeria, Brazil and China.

In addition to the mass killings, examples of crimes in Darfur include systematic, almost daily, attacks by the Sudanese government involving bombing of both civilians and the social infrastructure that supports them (hospitals and schools, for example), which have had a devastating impact on the population. Accounts of rape and other forms of sexual slavery, including enforced prostitution, forced pregnancy, and any other forms of sexual violence, have also been heard.

Court Action Taken

On May 2, 2007, the ICC issued arrest warrants for Ahmad Muhammad Harun, the Former Minister of State for the Interior of the Government of Sudan; and for Ali Muhammad Ali Abd-Al-Rahman, the Minister of State for Humanitarian Affairs in Sudan and the alleged leader of the Janjaweed.

On March 4, 2009, the ICC issued an arrest warrant for Sudanese President Omar Hassan Ahmad al-Bashir. This marked the first time  that the ICC issued an arrest warrant for a sitting head of state. As of today, though, al-Bashir remains at large, despite international visits to other Arab and African countries.

Bahr Idriss Abu Garda, Chairman and General Coordinator of Military Operations of the United Resistance Front, appeared voluntarily as a suspect for the first time before Pre-Trial Chamber I on 18 May 2009. The hearing to confirm the charges against him is scheduled for 12 October 2009.