Sudan will demand that the "criminal plot against our country" be stopped

From The Star by Edith M Lederer March 05, 2009 - Edition 3
Sudan changes tack on al-Bashir warrant

Western states back bid to prosecute, but China balks. The Sudanese government will drop its campaign to have the UN Security Council delay prosecution of President Omar al-Bashir for a year.

Instead the country will demand that the "criminal plot against our country" be stopped, Sudan's UN envoy said yesterday.

At Sudan's urging, the African Union and the Arab League had earlier been lobbying the 15 members of the Security Council to delay arresting al-Bashir if the International Criminal Court issued a warrant so that UN and AU efforts to bring an end to the six-year conflict in Darfur could continue without any disruption.

But after the court issued an arrest warrant yesterday for al-Bashir on charges of war crimes and crimes against humanity in Darfur, Sudan's UN Ambassador, Abdalmahmood Abdalhaleem Mohamed, told a news conference that the government has now decided to abandon its effort to seek a delay.

Richard Dicker, head of the International Justice Programme at Human Rights Watch, said Sudan was dropping the effort because the Security Council's veto-wielding permanent members are deeply divided on whether or not to delay the warrant - with the US, Britain and France opposed and China, which buys two-thirds of Sudan's oil, and Russia thought to be in favour.

"They understand the maths… and see there is not sufficient support to implement a deferral," Dicker said.

"This is dead in its tracks at the moment."

African and Arab nations fear the warrant against al-Bashir will destabilise the whole region, bring even more conflict in Darfur and threaten the fragile 2005 peace deal.

But the US, France and Britain made clear they would not support a delay - a view reiterated yesterday by US Ambassador Susan Rice, who said: "The US supports the ICC action to hold accountable those who are responsible for the heinous crimes in Darfur."

Sudan's Mohamed accused the US, Britain and France of using the International Criminal Court "to destabilise Sudan and to dominate the country".

"They are targeting among other things our wealth, our oil, our land and our new political importance - no doubt about that," he told a news conference.

The Rome statute that set up the court allows the Security Council, under Article 16, to pass a resolution to defer or suspend for a year the investigation or prosecution of a case.

It also gives the council authority to renew such a resolution.

China today echoed the Sudanese envoy, urging the court to drop the warrant.

"China opposes anything that could disrupt efforts to realise peace in Darfur and in Sudan," said Foreign Ministry spokesman Qin Gang in a statement posted today on the ministry's official website.

Mohamed did not say what Sudan would do to dismiss the case, but he predicted that the warrant would bring "the beginning of an end" of the International Criminal Court - "this destabilsing tool in the name of justice".

Thirty African countries are among the court's 108 member states. Some have reportedly threatened to pull out of the court in retaliation for the warrant against al-Bashir.

"This court has become the court of the new American justice," Mohamed said, "and the feeling widely felt in Africa (is) that only the Africans are targeted, and it is… a situation that Africa is not going to accept."

The African Union's Peace and Security Council was scheduled to meet in Addis Ababa, Ethiopia, today to discuss the warrant, he said, and the African members of the ICC will also meet to discuss their association with the court.

Human Rights Watch's Dicker disputed his assessment as "scare-mongering."

He said he saw "a depth of support for the ICC" in Africa where three governments have asked the court to probe crimes that could implicate government officials. - Sapa-AP

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From China View 5 March 2009:
Bashir slams ICC's ignorance of Iraq, Gaza at arally in Khartoum

KHARTOUM, March 5 (Xinhua) -- The Sudanese Presidents Omar al-Bashir on Thursday lashed out at the International Criminal Court(ICC) for its ignorance over Iraq and Gaza at a massive rally in Sudan's capital city Khartoum.

"The ICC ignores the criminal acts in Iraq and Gaza," the president said, referring to two war-torn territories where large numbers of civilians have been killed in the past few years.

The embattled president made the remarks at a massive rally on an avenue outside the Council of Ministers, where tens of thousands of people attended, meant to express Sudanese support for the president in face of the ICC's arrest warrant issued Wednesday.

Earlier, Bashir said at a special session of the Council of Ministers that the government has decided to expel 10 foreign NGOs, including Oxfam, Medical Sans Frontier, and two domestic organizations for their violation of the law and cooperation with the ICC.

"I thank the ICC's decision, for it can do nothing but help unify the Sudanese people," Bashir added, calling on all parties to establish a comprehensive coalition to cope with "colonialism and hegemony."

Wielding his trademark stick and chanting slogans, Bashir's rhetoric was hailed by the crowd who raised flags, banners, portraits of the president and a forest of arms.

"We will get rid of the disruptions and implement development schemes...to forge a great nation." he added.

Earlier on Wednesday, the Hague-based ICC issued an arrest warrant against Bashir for war crimes and crimes against humanity in the country's restive western region of Darfur between 2003 and2008.

However, the genocide accusation, filed by the ICC's prosecutor Luis Moreno-Ocampo in July, was not included in the final decision, according to the court's statement.

Hopefully, this issue will unite Sudan and help them start growing their own food to help the needy. Like I've said many times here before, Sudan needs world class land rights lawyers to sort out land ownership rights and how and where to house the homeless and farms with access to clean drinking water and irrigation. Step up resolving the Abyei boundary issue. Do not impose sanctions.

Anyone want to have the peace v justice debate now that humanitarian operation in Darfur is in tatters?

Rob Crilly's latest tweets on Twitter from Darfur:

hearing it may be 13 NGOs, probably cannot confirm at this time of night
about 3 hours ago from web

@goldlis complete evac. Licenses revoked. Some have been marched to their offices so officials can begin seizing assets
about 4 hours ago from web in reply to goldlis

Anyone want to have the peace v justice debate now that humanitarian operation in Darfur is in tatters?
about 4 hours ago from web

God help the children of Sudan.

Norwegian Refugee Council leaves Sudan - Mercy Corps suspends work in Darfur, western Sudan

Press Release from Mercy Corps March 4, 2009
Mercy Corps Suspends Work in Darfur

On Wednesday, March 4, the International Criminal Court (ICC) in The Hague issued a warrant for the arrest of President Omar Hassan al-Bashir of Sudan for crimes against humanity in the Darfur region of Sudan.

According to media reports, the Government of Sudan revoked the registration of several non-governmental organizations (NGOs) shortly after the ICC's announcement. Mercy Corps' registration was revoked. The Government did not offer a reason for this decision.

As a result, Mercy Corps will halt programs in Darfur and Khartoum effective immediately to begin implementing the closeout process as outlined by the government.

Mercy Corps deeply regrets the decision of the Sudanese government to revoke our registration. The agency remains committed to working with the government to provide lifesaving humanitarian assistance to the people of Darfur, and recovery and development programming that is critical to maintaining the fragile peace in other areas of northern Sudan. Mercy Corps intends to appeal this decision under Sudanese law.

"This is a devastating blow to the many people of Sudan who rely upon NGOs for both immediate survival, and help in building more prosperous and stable futures for their families," says Mercy Corps President Nancy Lindborg. "We sincerely hope that this decision will be reversed so we can get back to the critical business of saving and improving lives."

Mercy Corps has been operating in Sudan for five years. The country has been torn apart by two conflicts — a 21-year civil war that ended in 2005 and the ongoing violence in Darfur — and many of its people remain displaced and living in desperate poverty.

In the Darfur region, Mercy Corps provides lifesaving services to 200,000 people who have been forced from their homes by violence and are living in displacement camps. These services include keeping camps clean, training health promoters, building and supplying schools, and providing skills training to women and other vulnerable people.

Mercy Corps takes steps to ensure that our programs are not used to further any particular political or religious agenda. We are completely independent of, and have no position on, the actions of the International Criminal Court.

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UPDATE ON THURSDAY 5 MARCH 2009

News report from The Norway Post 5 March 2009:
Norwegian Refugee Council leaves Sudan

The Norwegian Refugee Council is one of the international humanitarian aid organisations which have been ordered to leave Sudan within 24 hours, after the International Criminal Court issued an arrest warrant for Sudan’s President.

Sudanese authorities have confiscated equipment and have withdrawn the oganisation's permit to operate in Sudan, according to NRK.

Sudan has ordered altogether 10 aid organisations to leave the country after the arrest warrant was issued. (NRK) Rolleiv Solholm

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From Norwegian Refugee Council by Magnus Wright Jacobsen 5 March 2009:
NRC leaves Sudan

NRC is one of the humanitarian organisations which were told to leave Sudan; hours after The International Criminal Court issued an arrest warrant on the country’s president.

Wednesday the Sudanese government made it clear that ten international humanitarian organisation no longer had permission to stay in the country. This happened few hours after The International Criminal Court (ICC) in Haag issued an arrest warrant on the Sudanese president Omar al-Bashir.

- Our permission to operate in Sudan is now cancelled. That is a surprise and a disappointment. We will address an appeal to the government to make them reverse this decision, said Elisabeth Rasmusson Secretary General in NRC.

NRC and the other humanitarian organisations have to leave the country within 24 hours. NRC’s international employees will leave the capital Khartoum and Kordofan by the end of the day. All NRC assets will be confiscated.

- We want to stay in Sudan. We are doing an important work in the country. After the peace agreement in 2005, IDPs have begun their return to their homes. NRC is highly involved assisting the returnees to start a normal life. This process requires a lot of assistance, said Rasmusson.

Alfred Taban says ICC is going to entrench Bashir rather than weaken him

From the Los Angeles Times
Sudan's President Bashir charged with war crimes
By Edmund Sanders reporting from Khartoum, Sudan March 4, 2009 - excerpt:

" ... political experts here say hopes for a "soft landing" in which the regime's inner circle decides to sideline Bashir are misplaced.

"It's wishful thinking," said Alfred Taban, editor of an opposition newspaper. "If anything, the ICC is going to entrench Bashir rather than weaken him."

In recent months, Bashir's government has silenced most opponents, through payoffs or intimidation. The ICC has also stirred nationalist and anti-Western sentiments, with many Sudanese calling the case an attack on the country's sovereignty.

Others worry that the ICC case will doom efforts to reach a peace deal over Darfur by emboldening rebels. Two rebel groups have promised to increase their attacks against the government in the aftermath of the arrest warrant, calling Bashir's government "illegal."



Photo: Protesters demonstrate outside the Sudanese embassy in central London today. Members of the Darfur community gathered to remember the victims of crimes committed in Darfur. (Shaun Curry / AFP/Getty Images)

edmund.sanders@latimes.com

Note from Sudan Watch: I share Alfred Taban's view that the ICC is going to entrench Mr Bashir rather than weaken him. Note the above photo, posted here for future reference:  the materials are hand-outs from UK activists.

Waging Peace submitted more than 500 children’s drawings of Darfur that were accepted by ICC as evidence in any trial

The plot thickens. Last year, Waging Peace submitted more than 500 children’s pictures of Darfur war that were accepted by the International Criminal Court as contextual evidence to be used in any trial.  See Times report 5 March 2009, copied here below.

Here is a sample of some of the drawings from BBC News, 4 March 2009:
In pictures: Child drawings of Darfur

The International Criminal Court is accepting supporting evidence of children's drawings of the alleged crimes committed in Darfur.

Rights group Waging Peace collected the drawings from refugees in Chad.


This sketch by Abdul Maggit depicts a typical scene of destruction.


Abduljabbar's picture shows someone being thrown into a fire and a soldier who appears to be cutting off a man’s head.


Mohammed's drawing shows Janjaweed militia in two pick-up trucks using machine guns on civilians. He also shows a tank. The Sudanese government has always denied using heavy artillery in Darfur.


This picture by Mohamat shows another village attack. Next to each civilian who has been shot is the word "Morts", which means dead people in French.


Adam, 15, shows shot civilians' bodies being tossed into the river. On the back of the drawing, he wrote: "Look at these pictures carefully, and you will see what happened in Darfur. Thank you."


Ismael, also 15, drew a Sudanese helicopter bombing his village, torching houses and killing civilians and a donkey. He said the armed men on horseback were Janjaweed.


Bakhid was eight years old when he saw his village being attacked and burned by Janjaweed forces on horse back and Sudanese forces in vehicles and tanks.


One young artist named Aisha said: "It is very kind to send us food, but this is Africa and we are used to being hungry. What I ask is that you please take the guns away from the people who are killing us."
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From Times Online
March 5, 2009
One small step for the ICC, a giant step for Darfur
Frances Gibb, Legal Editor

The issuing of an arrest warrant yesterday for Sudan’s President on charges of war crimes and of crimes against humanity was a landmark for the International Criminal Court.

The move — the first by the court based in The Hague against a sitting head of state — brought derision from the object of the warrant himself, Omar al-Bashir. He said this week that the tribunal could “eat” its warrant and that it was not worth the ink it was written with — as he danced for cheering supporters who burnt an effigy of the ICC chief prosecutor, Luis Moreno-Ocampo.

But it was also welcomed widely across the international human rights community and nowhere less than at Waging Peace, www.wagingpeace.info, the small London-based charity that focuses on atrocities in Africa and in particular in Darfur. Rebecca Tinsley, its chairwoman, said that the charity regretted that the court had stopped short of accusing al-Bashir of genocide but it welcomed the ICC’s acknowledgement of the role that the Sudanese President had “played in bringing death and destruction to Darfur”.

She added: “After five years of pandering to the Khartoum Government, the international community is finally sending a strong signal that the systematic murder, rape and displacement of innocent people will not go unpunished.”

The group has been instrumental in assembling evidence of the atrocities in Darfur, where the UN estimates that 300,000 people have died in the six-year conflict, and millions of people have been displaced, now living in camps near Darfur’s main towns. Al-Bashir puts the death toll at 10,000.

Last year Waging Peace submitted more than 500 children’s pictures of the genocide that were accepted by the court as contextual evidence to be used in any trial of al-Bashir as well as those of the so-called humanitarian minister, Ahmed Haroun, and the militia leader, Ali Kushayb, who have both been indicted previously.

It also helped to step up international pressure, presenting world leaders with the largest petition to emerge from Eastern Africa, signed by more than 60,000 Darfuris who had taken refuge in Chadian camps on the border of Sudan and who were appealing for an end to the atrocities.

Tinsley said: “Many Darfuri women had seen their husbands and children murdered and been raped themselves. Not only was it complete cultural anathema for them to take political action but they risked their lives in doing so. Signing their names posed an enormous threat to their safety.”

One testimonial from among 40,000 women who signed the petition read: “We the mothers want them [the UK peacekeepers] to enter Darfur immediately. They have displaced us, and killed us, and raped us in front of our children and husbands. They killed our children and burnt our houses. This was all done by the Janjawid in our homeland.”

Another, by a 13-year-old girl, Sumaiya, who was 10 when forced to flee Darfur, read: “The Janjawid and the Government burnt our houses, cut our trees and stole our money and goods and animals. They killed the women, the men, the elderly and the young and raped the girls. They attacked the mosque and killed the imam, the muezzin and people praying in the mosque.”

Many witness accounts collected by the charity were gathered through drawings. A researcher, Anna Schmitt, spent three weeks among the refugees and gave the children paper and pencils, asking them to depict their strongest memories. They showed attacks on their villages by Sudanese government forces and the Janjawid, including adult men being killed, women being shot, beaten and taken prisoner, babies being thrown on fires and government helicopters and planes bombing civilians.

Yet there has been delay and ambivalence over the prospective prosecution of al-Bashir — it is eight months since the ICC prosecutor made his request for a warrant to the court and his charges included genocide.

Peter Quayle, a solicitor who has completed an internship at the International Criminal Tribunal for the Former Yugoslavia, said: “Awkward hand-wringing accompanied the announcement of the prospective prosecution of al-Bashir. But applause and ovation heralded the arrest of Radovan Karadzic to stand trial at the International Criminal Tribunal for the Former Yugoslavia.”

One reason, he said, was that the “many” who felt the prosecutor’s case against al-Bashir to be hasty and presumptuous feared that the criminal indictment would influence the Darfur crisis for the worse. But, he argues, the worst has already happened. “The President of Sudan is to be prosecuted, not to forestall or deter atrocity, but to publicise and punish his alleged crime.” To delay on grounds of expediency — and the hope of securing peace — was to delay on a false premise, he argues; and any alleged dichotomy between justice and expediency “spurious”.

Above all, it is highly unlikely that al-Bashir will be arrested or handed over. The ICC has no police force and the warrant, to be delivered to the Sudan Government, is unlikely to be executed.

But the action by the ICC sends out a message that the international community at least wishes to bring him to account. Some hope that it may also bring peace. Tinsley said: “His arrest is imperative in bringing an end to the violence that has destroyed the lives of millions of people.”

It was time, she said, for countries to meet their obligations and ensure al-Bashir answers the charges he faces. Not to do so would jeopardise the lives of millions in Darfur — and also the future of international justice.

Note to self: more on this later.

Arab FMs hold emergency meeting on ICC arrest warrant against Sudanese president

From China View 5 March 2009 - excerpt:
Arab FMs hold emergency meeting on ICC arrest warrant against Sudanese president

CAIRO, March 4 (Xinhua) -- Arab foreign ministers started here on Wednesday afternoon an emergency meeting on the issue of an arrest warrant by the International Criminal Court (ICC) against Sudanese President Omar al-Bashir.

The ministers are expected to discuss the negative impact of the ICC decision on Sudan and the Arab stance on this issue.

The meeting, hours after the ICC made the decision, was held on the sidelines of a joint Arab-Southern American foreign ministers' conference which is in session at the headquarters of the Arab League. [...]

On Wednesday, Egypt called on the UN Security Council to hold an emergency meeting to suspend the enforcement of the ICC decision.

Egypt is greatly concerned about the negative impacts the ICC move might have on the security and stability of Sudan, Egyptian Foreign Minister Ahmed Abul Gheit was quoted by the official MENA news agency as saying.

At such a critical time of Sudan's history, the UN Security Council should shoulder its responsibilities to achieve peace in the country, Abul Gheit said.

The top Egyptian diplomat urged the UN Security Council to hold an emergency meeting to suspend the enforcement of the ICC decision, saying Sudan needs a comprehensive political solution to bring long-term justice. Editor: Mu Xuequan

Uganda’s position would remain that of the African Union Peace and Security Council which sought to have Bashir indictment deferred

From Monitor Daily, Uganda by Rodney Muhumuza 5 March 2009 - excerpt:
Uganda plays for time over Sudan

(Kampala) - Both Henry Okello Oryem, the minister for International relations and Ambassador James Mugume, the Foreign Affairs permanent secretary, said Uganda’s position would remain that of the African Union Peace and Security Council, which sought to have the indictment deferred.

“We don’t condone impunity, but at the same time we are members of the AU Peace and Security Council,” Mr Mugume said. “We will consider it as AU, and then take the necessary decision.”

Announcing the warrants at the Hague, the ICC said its next step will be to ask all countries signatory to the Rome Statute that created it to enforce the warrants. This means that Gen. Bashir can only travel to countries where he is sure that he will not be handed over.

Mr Museveni has had a complicated relationship with Khartoum, once accusing Mr Bashir’s government of supporting Joseph Kony’s war against Uganda, and later giving him credit for cutting off links with the Lord’s Resistance Army.

US Secretary of State Clinton says al-Bashir can "have his day in court"

Reuters report 4 March 2009 - excerpt:
Clinton says al-Bashir can "have his day in court":

(BRUSSELS) - U.S. Secretary of State Hillary Clinton said on Wednesday if Sudan's President Omar Hassan al-Bashir believed he had been wrongly charged for war crimes in Darfur he could "have his day in court".

Speaking to reporters en route to Brussels, Clinton said she hoped the indictment issued earlier by the International Criminal Court (ICC) in the Hague would not lead to "increased violence" on the part of Sudan's government.

"President Bashir would have a chance to have his day in court if he believes that the indictment is wrongly charged. He can certainly contest it," said Clinton.

"I certainly hope that it does not lead to any additional actions of violence or punishment on the part of the Bashir government," added Clinton.

The top U.S. diplomat said the ICC had issued its indictment based on a very long investigation and the case was now in the judicial system "properly so". [...]

"Governments and individuals who either conduct or condone atrocities of any kind, as we have seen year after year in Sudan, have to be held accountable," she said. [...]
(Reporting by Sue Pleming; Editing by Louise Ireland)

UN chief urges Sudan's cooperation but is vague on arrest

Report by DPA (via The Earth Times) 4 March 2009:
Ban urges Sudan's cooperation, but is vague on arrest - Summary

New York - UN Secretary General Ban Ki-moon called on the Sudanese government on Wednesday to cooperate with the joint UN- African Union peacekeeping mission in Darfur despite the arrest warrant issued against President Omar al-Bashir. In his statement in reaction to the International Criminal Court's international arrest warrant for al-Bashir, Ban did not explicitly demand that Khartoum surrender the Sudanese leader to the court based at The Hague. [...]

Ban said he recognized the ICC's authority as "an independent judicial institution."

He called on Sudan to "address the issues of peace and justice" in a manner consistent with the 2005 resolution in which the UN Security Council referred the case of Darfur killing to the ICC. The resolution called on governments to fully cooperate with the court even if they are not signers of the Rome Statute that created the court.

Ban focused his demand on the Sudanese government to "fully cooperate with all UN entities and their implementing partners, while fulfilling its obligation to ensure the safety and security of the civilian population, UN personnel and property, and that of its implementing partners."

"The secretary general calls on all parties to work in good faith toward a political solution to end the conflict in Darfur," he said in a statement. [...]

Sudan's UN Ambassador Abdalmahmood Mohamad, picking up on Ban's failure to clearly demand al-Bashir's arrest by Khartoum, said, "We are not under the obligation to abide by the verdict."

"We strongly condemn this verdict because, for us, the ICC does not exist and we are not bound by it," Mohamad said. [...]

The UN headquarters in New York said Khartoum had revoked on Wednesday the legal registrations of between six and 10 humanitarian groups operating in Darfur. They included Oxfam, Solidarite of France and Mercy Corps.

"Affected non-governmental organizations are the main providers of life-saving humanitarian services, such as water, food, health and sanitations," the UN said. "Their departure will have an immediate and serious impact on the humanitarian and security situation in North Sudan, especially in Darfur."

The UN called on Khartoum to restore the registrations to those groups so they can continue their relief work.

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Reuters report by Andrew Heavens in Khartoum 4 March 2009 - excerpt:
Sudan shuts down six aid groups

Sudan's state Humanitarian Aid Commission called in managers from the high-profile aid groups, which all work in Darfur, and told them their operating licences were revoked within minutes of the ICC announcement on Wednesday, officials told Reuters.

No one was immediately available for comment from the Commission.

Managers were still hoping to persuade the commission to change its mind and were hoping the United Nations would press Sudan to reverse the decision, said senior humanitarian officials, who also spoke on condition of anonymity.

"This is very serious. This will have a major impact on humanitarian work in Darfur," one official said.

"At least six high-profile groups have been told their licences have been revoked. We could be talking of at least 10."

Earlier in the day, Oxfam, Medecins Sans Frontiers and other aid groups said the commission had told them to pull international workers out of some areas of Darfur, citing security concerns.

Sudan gov't expels Oxfam GB from northern Sudan

From Teletext UK 4 March 2009:
Aid agencies expelled

The Sudanese government has expelled aid organisations, including Oxfam GB and Save the Children UK.

Oxfam confirmed its licence to work in northern Sudan had been revoked and said that it will be appealing against the decision.

It follows the International Criminal Court's decision to issue an arrest warrant for Sudanese president Omar al-Bashir on war crimes charges.

- - -

From M&C UK 4 March 2009 - excerpt:
Sudan revokes permits of relief groups

Oxfam said it was appealing the decision, hoping for a quick resolution.

'If Oxfam Great Britain's registration is revoked, it will affect more than 600,000 Sudanese people whom we provide with vital humanitarian and development aid, including clean water and sanitation on a daily basis,' said Penny Lawrence, Oxfam's international director.

It said 400,000 of the Sudanese it aids are 'affected by the ongoing conflict in Darfur - where people continue to flee from violence and the humanitarian needs remain enormous. It will also affect another 200,000 poor people in the east of the country and Khartoum state.'

Oxfam began its operation in northern Sudan in 1983 and currently has 450 staff, 90 per cent of whom are Sudanese.

Sudan gov't suspends work of Save the Children UK

From Save the Children Alliance 04 Mar 2009
Save the Children's response to being asked to suspend operations in Sudan

Ken Caldwell, Save the Children UK's director of international operations, said:

"Save the Children UK has received a letter from the Sudanese authorities asking us to suspend our operations in Sudan. This has very worrying implications for the 50,000 children we are currently supporting in Khartoumand the north-east of the country. These are some of Sudan's most vulnerable children - many are living in camps having been forced to flee their homes by the ongoing conflict.

"Save the Children UK is providing essential support to these children and their families, helping to protect them from abuse, get them access to clean water and get them back into school. We don't know what the outcome of these developments will be, but we do know that if we are forced to stop our work the lives of thousands of children could be at risk."

For information or interviews in the UK,call Save the Children UK's media unit on +44 207 012 6841 / +44 7831 650 409 (24-hour line) or email media@savethechildren.org.uk

UN says Sudan has ordered expulsion of 6-10 aid groups including Oxfam, Solidarities and Mercy Corps

From Associated Press 4 March 2009:
Sudan expels aid groups after warrant decision

UNITED NATIONS — A U.N. spokeswoman says Sudan has ordered the expulsion of six to 10 humanitarian groups from Darfur and seized assets after the International Criminal Court issued an arrest warrant against the country's president.

U.N. deputy spokeswoman Marie Okabe says the aid groups include Oxfam, Solidarities and Mercy Corps. The others were not identified.

Okabe says U.N. Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon is calling the move a "serious setback to lifesaving operations in Darfur."

The decision comes after the Hague court issued an arrest warrant Wednesday for Sudanese President Omar al-Bashir on charges of war crimes and crimes against humanity in Darfur.

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UPDATE ON THURSDAY 5 MARCH 2009

News report from Radio Netherlands 5 March 2009:
Dutch ambassador ready for any eventuality:

The Foreign Ministry has posted a more severe travel warning to Sudan now that the International Criminal Court in The Hague has issued an arrest warrant against the country's president. The ministry is advising Dutch citizens not to travel to the province of Darfur or the town of Malakal unless it is absolutely necessary.

There are currently around 250 Dutch citizens in Sudan, most of whom work for aid organisations or are connected to the United Nations or one of its missions. All 250 have been asked to report to the Dutch Embassy in Khartoum. The Dutch ambassador, Norbert Braakhuis, says that if the embassy knows where everyone is, it will be easier to provide help should it be needed.

He added that there are no indications that Dutch citizens run a particular risk because the International Criminal Court is located in The Hague. However, although he believes Sudan does not equate the court with the Netherlands and its citizens, he says he would like to be prepared for any eventuality.

Mustafa Osman Ismail on Sudan TV issues message with a threat to foreign guests

Some of today's news from Sudan Radio Service:

4 March - (Khartoum) - In response to the ICC arrest warrant, the presidential advisor to Omar al-Bashir, Dr. Mustafa Osman Ismail, appearing on Sudan TV, said that the decision was expected.

He described it as a conspiracy against Sudan by western countries.

[Mustafa Osman Ismail]: “The government is committed to protecting our foreign guests, but I am connecting this message with a threat. Any foreigner in Sudan, whether a diplomat, or a tourist, or an employee with the international organizations should respect these three things. First, the country’s law. Second, the customs and traditions of the Sudanese people and thirdly, the agreement signed between the government and the organizations. If you want to stay respectful and to be appreciated in Sudan, you should respect these three things. Otherwise, they should leave Sudan immediately and voluntarily before we force them to.”

The ICC decision was followed by public demonstrations of support for al-Bashir particularly in Khartoum.
- - -

4 March - (Nairobi) - Following the decision by the ICC on Wednesday, Sudan Radio Service asked Francois Grignon, the director of the Africa Program at the International Crisis Group, for his reaction to the news from The Hague.

[Francois Grignon]: “Any peace which doesn’t provide a component of justice is indeed extremely fragile. Crimes which have been committed leave very strange marks on the community and the desire for revenge remains very strong when justice has not been found. Now, finding justice can be provided through different ways, it doesn’t have to necessarily be the International Criminal Court, it depends. First of all, the ICC only deals with genocide, war crimes and crimes against humanity.”

Grignon said that he didn’t think that Wednesday’s decision would damage the implementation of the Comprehensive Peace Agreement, saying that the CPA had weathered greater challenges in the past.

[Francois Grignon] “The CPA suffered but survived after the death of John Garang. CPA provisions allocate posts to different signatories. In this case of course, the indictment of the president is going to shake the CPA. It is going to have a political impact which will add tension to the CPA as the National Congress Party is going to demand solidarity and support from the SPLM, as its key partner in the Government of National Unity and the key partner in the implementation of the CPA. But the CPA is not about who holds positions, the CPA is about a peace process which hopes to solve and resolve a 20-year war.”

The ICC announced its decision to issue an arrest warrant for President al-Bashir early on Wednesday afternoon.
- - -

4 March - (Khartoum) - Speaking to Sudan Radio Service on Wednesday from Khartoum, a lawyer and opposition politician, Farouk Abu Issa, describes the next step in the judicial process following the ICC decision to issue an arrest warrant for President al-Bashir.

[Farouk Abu Issa]: “Orders will be given to the suspect to appear before the court to present proof against the accusations individually or through a lawyer. If the person fails to appear before the court, the court can issue the arrest warrant against him. The problem with the ICC is that it has no direct means of implementing the arrest. It has no special judicial police or enforcement mechanisms with which to implement the arrest warrant. So the ICC relies on the mechanisms available in the international community to arrest the suspected person to take them into custody and ensure that they appear before the court.  The ICC can also go to the UN to ask the UN to issue a demand to the mentioned person to appear before the court. If the UN orders the warrant, all the permanent members of the UN should, together with the signatory countries to the Rome declaration, arrest the person if he enters their country’s airspace or territory. The arrest warrant can even be implemented by Interpol.  In July, the ICC prosecutor will present his report to the UN. Then, the UN Security Council has the power to impose tough sanctions on the country, according to a clause in the Rome agreement. The clause underlines the protection of international peace and gives the UN the right to intervene militarily - and that is the most dangerous part of it.”

That was Farouk Abu Issa, a prominent lawyer and opposition politician, speaking from Khartoum.
- - -

4 March - (Juba) - The President of the Government of Southern Sudan, Salva Kiir Mayardit, said that despite the decision by the International Criminal Court to issue an arrest warrant for President Omar Al Bashir, the Sudanese people will not hand over the president to the ICC.

Addressing a press conference in Juba on Tuesday before the ICC announced its decision to issue the warrant, Kiir said that the SPLM and the National Congress Party are committed to protecting President al-Bashir.

[Salva Kiir]:“Nobody in Sudan or anybody coming from anywhere will hand over President al-Bashir to the ICC. In the first place, it is the first of it kind that the head of state serving in office has been ever indicted. It is a thing that has not happened before and because of that I don’t think that the Sudanese will be in a position to hand over President al-Bashir, even if the announcement was made. In any case, I have made it clear before in my statement that it will not be the end of everything by itself.”

Kiir appealed to the armed forces and law enforcement agencies to maintain law and order after the ICC announcement.

[Salva Kiir]:“My dear compatriots, fellow Sudanese, tomorrow, the Pre-Trial Chamber of the International Criminal Court will deliver its decision on the accusations against President Omar Hassan Ahmed al-Bashir. This is what the court had announced earlier. In tomorrow's expected announcement, the ICC may issue the warrant of arrest or it may throw out the case against the president. Tomorrow’s announcement may not mark the end of the ICC issue. This matter may hang on for sometime but it certainly will not mean the end of our country, the Sudan or government. We must move beyond tomorrow. And we will move beyond tomorrow. This episode should not be viewed as a crisis but as an opportunity to consolidate peace, justice and stability in our country. In order to move beyond tomorrow, we must continue to assure the security and safety of every citizen and resident in Sudan. I trust that our armed forces and law enforcement agencies shall respect the basic right of the people, maintain law and order and abide by the constitution. We in the presidency have reached a conclusion that all the foreign missions in Sudan, the embassies, all UN agencies, the peacekeepers, and any foreigners in Sudan will be protected. Nobody will be allowed to enter into the embassies”.

Kiir called on citizens to exercise calm and restraint, saying that the SPLM will work with its partners in the National Congress Party to study the political and diplomatic consequences of the court’s decision.

Charles Haskins
News Programming Advisor
Sudan Radio Service (SRS)
a project of Education Development Center
T: +254 715 05 2924 or +254 (20) 387 0906
F: +254 (20) 387 6520

Listen to SRS on the radio or on the web at www.sudanradio.org

AU says Bashir warrant could impede Sudan's peace process

The AU has been lobbying the UN Security Council to delay the arrest of al-Bashir. The Security Council, which, under the UN Charter, has the primary responsibility for the maintenance of peace and security in the world at large, has the power to suspend ICC investigation or prosecution of a case for up to one year at a time, according to the Article 16 of the Rome Statute that set up the world tribunal.

Source: China View 4 March 2009 - AU says Beshir warrant could impede Sudan's peace process -

ADDIS ABABA, March 4 (Xinhua) -- The arrest warrant, issued by the International Criminal Court (ICC) against Sudanese President Omar al-Beshir, could impede the peace process in Sudan, said the African Union (AU) on Wednesday evening.

In a statement, AU Commission Chairperson Jean Ping said "the search for justice should be pursued in a way that does not impede or jeopardize the promotion of peace."

Jean Ping said he was deeply concerned at "the far-reaching consequences of this decision, which comes at a critical juncture in the process to promote lasting peace, reconciliation and democratic governance in Sudan."

The AU Peace and Security Council is scheduled to meet on Thursday to review the situation, he said.

The AU chief said he was consulting with a number of stakeholders and AU partners "to mobilize support for the AU's position on this issue and to ensure that the hard-won but fragile gains made thus far in the quest for lasting peace and reconciliation in Sudan are not reversed."

Earlier on Wednesday, ICC issued the arrest warrant for the siting Sudanese president, but President al-Beshir denies the war crimes allegations and declines to deal with the court, the world's first permanent war crimes tribunal which was set up in 2002, and there is currently no international mechanism to arrest him.

The AU has been lobbying the UN Security Council to delay the arrest of al-Beshir. The Security Council, which, under the UN Charter, has the primary responsibility for the maintenance of peace and security in the world at large, has the power to suspend ICC investigation or prosecution of a case for up to one year at a time, according to the Article 16 of the Rome Statute that set up the world tribunal.

ICC Chief Prosecutor Luis Moreno-Ocampo accuses al-Beshir for his alleged role in what he called genocide in Darfur. The chief prosecutor requested the warrant for the Sudanese president last July. The Sudanese president dismissed such allegations as a Western conspiracy.

Sudanese Minister of State for Information and Communication Kamal Ebeid said that his government rejects the arrest warrant issued by ICC and will not deal with the court, the state television reported in the Sudanese capital of Khartoum on Wednesday."

The ICC's decision is regarded as a defiance against Sudan's sovereignty," Ebeid said, adding that "there is no firm evidence behind the ICC's arrest warrant." Editor: Mu Xuequan

White House won't say if Obama supports Sudan move

From Associated Press 4 March 2009 - excerpt:
White House won't say if Obama supports Sudan move

WASHINGTON — The White House is dancing carefully around the question of how President Barack Obama feels about the International Criminal Court's decision to issue an arrest warrant for Sudanese President Omar al-Bashir.

Press secretary Robert Gibbs said Wednesday the White House believes that anyone who has committed atrocities in Darfur should be held accountable. He said the president supports the pursuit of an immediate cease-fire and long-term peace in the region.

EU urges Sudan and all other parties to the conflict to cooperate with ICC

From EUbusiness (press release) 4 March 2009
EU urges Sudan to cooperate with ICC over Beshir

(BRUSSELS) - The European Union urged Sudan Wednesday to fully cooperate with the International Criminal Court after it issued an arrest warrant for President Omar al-Beshir over war crimes in Darfur.

"The EU urges the government of Sudan and all other parties to the conflict to cooperate fully with the ICC in order to comply with its obligations under international law and to combat impunity in Darfur," a statement said.

The 27-nation European bloc also underscored "its full support and respect for the International Criminal Court and its key role in the promotion of international justice."

Russia sceptical about al-Bashir arrest warrant

Report by DPA via The Earth Times -
Kremlin sceptical about al-Bashir arrest warrant

(Moscow) - Warning about the danger of further instability in Sudan, Russia on Wednesday reacted with scepticism to the arrest warrant issued by the International Criminal Court (ICC) for Sudanese President Omar al-Bashir. The ICC decision could further destabilize the situation in Sudan, a Russian Foreign Ministry spokesman warned, according to the Itar- Tass agency.

Mikhail Margelov, foreign policy spokesman for the Federation Council of Russia, commented that al-Bashir "must without a doubt answer for the crimes" in the Darfur.

But the timing of the arrest warrant could endanger the "recent positive dynamics" in the African country, he said. This could in turn have "terrible consequences" for humanitarian supplies.

Russia has 120 air force soldiers involved in the UN mission in Sudan. In the past, Moscow maintained good ties with Khartoum, selling arms to the leadership there.

Uproar in Sudan over Bashir war crimes warrant

ICC Prosecutor Moreno-Ocampo did not explain why Sudan would be obliged under international law to arrest al- Bashir even on its own territory.

Source: The Earth Times 4 March 2009
Expert: Convincing evidence needed to charge al-Bashir with genocide

Amsterdam - The International Criminal Court (ICC) in the Hague on Wednesday, did not include a count of genocide against Sudanese President Omar al-Bashir for alleged atrocities in Darfur as had been widely expected. The ICC listed only five counts of crimes against humanity and two of war crimes, but left the door open for amendments to the charge sheet to include genocide if more evidence is gathered in the case against him.

Speaking after the ICC announcement in The Hague on Wednesday, a Dutch expert on Sudan and the United Nations said it was never going to be easy to bring a charge of genocide against al-Bashir.

Genocide is the most serious charge in international law, requiring convincing and unequivocal evidence, said Dick Leurdijk of Clingendael Institute for International Relations and Diplomacy in The Hague.

"Apparently the evidence ICC prosecutor Luis Moreno-Ocampo presented the court was insufficient to substantiate this allegation," Leurdijk said.

"Former US secretary of state Colin Powell was the first to refer to a "genocide" in Darfur in September 2004," he added.

"But the European Union and the United Nations always consistently refrained from using that term. They may have been proven right by the court today," Leurdijk said.

However, he did not exclude the possibility that the charges against al-Bashir could actually be amended at a later stage.

Leurdijk said it was "too bad" that Moreno-Ocampo did not explain why Sudan would be obliged under international law to arrest al- Bashir even on its own territory.

"After all, Sudan has not recognized the authority of the International Criminal Court," he noted said.

"The ICC was established through political negotiations, not on the basis of a UN Security Council resolution like the International Criminal Tribunal for the former Yugoslavia," he said.

- - -



Photo: Demonstrators campaigned for the indictment of President Omar Hassan al-Bashir of Sudan outside the Sudanese embassy in London on Wednesday. Source: NTY article by MARLISE SIMONS March 4, 2009 - Court Issues Warrant for Arrest of Sudan President - excerpt:

Reaction from Sudan, which has vowed to defy the court, was swift. “We strongly condemn this criminal move,” said Abdalmahmood Abdalhaleem, the Sudanese ambassador to the United Nations. “It amounts to an attempt at regime change. We are not going to be bound by it, we are not going to respect it.”Ambassador Abdalhaleem also said he was not worried about the president being arrested if he traveled to any friendly country, since many African and Arab states have expressed support for him.

Photo: A woman holds a poster of Sudan's president Omar al-Bashir at a demonstration in Khartoum against the international criminal court. Photograph: Zohra Bensemra/Reuters. Source: Guardian UK article by Xan Rice in Nairobi March 4, 2009 - Uproar in Sudan over Bashir war crimes warrant - Protests erupt and government attacks 'white man's court' after president is charged with Darfur war crimes - excerpt:

The government's initial reaction to the warrant announcement was dismissive. Speaking in Cairo, Sudan's justice minister, Abdel Basit Sabdarat, said: "We will not deal with this court. It has no jurisdiction, it is a political decision."

Mustafa Osman Ismail, an adviser to Bashir, accused the west of seeking to undermine the country's stability. "The court is only one mechanism of neo-colonialist policy used by the west against free and independent countries."

The ministry of information said in a statement: "There will be no recognition of or dealing with the white man's court, which has no mandate in Sudan or against any of its people."

"Sudan's sovereignty and independence is a red line that will be defended,"said the statement, which was carried by the Sudan Media Centre.

But the two main rebel movements in Darfur hailed the arrest warrant. Abdel Wahid Mohammed Nur, the leader of the Sudan Liberation Movement, described it as "a great victory for the victims of Darfur and Sudan". The Justice and Equality Movement said Bashir should appear before the court "to plead his innocence, if he were indeed innocent".

On the ground in Darfur and Chad, people displaced by the conflict gathered around radios and cheered when the ICC decision was announced. By then, however, the first ramifications of the warrant were being felt.

The aid organisation Médecins sans Frontières said it had pulled its entire expatriate staff out of Darfur on orders from the government. UN officials said hundreds of government troops paraded in El Fasher, the capital of North Darfur state, in an apparent show of strength.

There are concerns that local opposition groups and foreigners may be harassed or even attacked in the coming days and weeks.

Egypt, which hosted a visit from Bashir last week, said it was "greatly disturbed" by the ICC decision and called for an emergency meeting of the UN security council to defer the arrest warrant. Russia also strongly criticised the warrant.

Mikhail Margelov, Russia's special envoy to Sudan, said: "The untimely fulfilment of the ICC decision to arrest the president of Sudan will create a dangerous precedent in the system of international relations and could negatively affect the situation both inside Sudan and the overall situation in the region."

Hamas, which governs the Gaza Strip, described the warrant as unjust and political.

The US, which has described the Darfur conflict as genocide, called for restraint from all parties in Sudan, including the government.

"Further violence against civilian Sudanese or foreign interests must be avoided and will not be tolerated," said Robert Wood, the state department spokesman.

"The United States believes that those who have committed atrocities should be brought to justice as the ICC process continues."

France expressed its support for the court and urged Sudan to "fully co-operate" and to continue with peace negotiations to end the conflict.

TEXT: ICC issues a warrant of arrest for Omar Al Bashir, President of Sudan

Press Release from International Criminal Court (ICC) March 4, 2009
Click here for Francaise/Arabic

ICC issues a warrant of arrest for Omar Al Bashir, President of Sudan
ICC-CPI-20090304-PR394
Situation: Darfur, Sudan

Today, Pre-Trial Chamber I of the International Criminal Court (ICC) issued a warrant for the arrest of Omar Hassan Ahmad Al Bashir, President of Sudan, for war crimes and crimes against humanity. He is suspected of being criminally responsible, as an indirect (co-)perpetrator, for intentionally directing attacks against an important part of the civilian population of Darfur, Sudan, murdering, exterminating, raping, torturing and forcibly transferring large numbers of civilians, and pillaging their property. This is the first warrant of arrest ever issued for a sitting Head of State by the ICC.

Omar Al Bashir’s official capacity as a sitting Head of State does not exclude his criminal responsibility, nor does it grant him immunity against prosecution before the ICC, according to Pre-Trial Chamber I.

According to the Judges, the above-mentioned crimes were allegedly committed during a five year counter-insurgency campaign by the Government of Sudan against the Sudanese Liberation Movement/Army (SLM/A), the Justice and Equality Movement (JEM) and other armed groups opposing the Government of Sudan in Darfur. It is alleged that this campaign started soon after the April 2003 attack on El Fasher airport as a result of a common plan agreed upon at the highest level of the Government of Sudan by Omar Al Bashir and other high-ranking Sudanese political and military leaders. It lasted at least until 14 July 2008, the date of the filing of the Prosecution’s Application for the warrant of arrest for Omar Al Bashir.

A core component of that campaign was the unlawful attack on that part of the civilian population of Darfur – belonging largely to the Fur, Masalit and Zaghawa groups – perceived to be close to the organised armed groups opposing the Government of Sudan in Darfur. The said civilian population was to be unlawfully attacked by Government of Sudan forces, including the Sudanese Armed Forces and their allied Janjaweed Militia, the Sudanese Police Force, the National Intelligence and Security Service and the Humanitarian Aid Commission.

The Chamber found that Omar al Bashir, as the de jure and de facto President of Sudan and Commander-in-Chief of the Sudanese Armed Forces, is suspected of having coordinated the design and implementation of the counter-insurgency campaign. In the alternative, it also found that there are reasonable grounds to believe that he was in control of all branches of the “apparatus” of the State of Sudan and used such control to secure the implementation of the counter-insurgency campaign.

The counts

The warrant of arrest for Omar Al Bashir lists 7 counts on the basis of his individual criminal responsibility (article 25(3)(a)) including:

five counts of crimes against humanity: murder – article 7(1)(a); extermination – article 7(1)(b); forcible transfer – article 7(1)(d);
torture – article 7(1)(f); and rape – article 7(1)(g);

two counts of war crimes: intentionally directing attacks against a civilian population as such or against individual civilians not taking direct part in hostilities – article 8(2)(e)(i); and pillaging – article 8(2)(e)(v).

Findings concerning genocide

The majority of the Chamber, Judge Anita Ušacka dissenting, found that the material provided by the Prosecution in support of its application for a warrant of arrest failed 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. Consequently, the crime of genocide is not included in the warrant issued for the arrest of Omar Al Bashir. Nevertheless, the Judges stressed that if additional evidence is gathered by the Prosecution, the decision would not prevent the Prosecution from requesting an amendment to the warrant of arrest in order to include the crime of genocide.

Cooperation of States

The Judges directed the Registrar to prepare and transmit, as soon as practicable, a request for cooperation for the arrest and surrender of Omar Al Bashir to Sudan, and to all States Parties to the Rome Statute and all United Nations Security Council (UNSC) members that are not party to the Statute, as well as to any other State as may be necessary.

The Judges found that, according to UNSC resolution 1593 and articles 25 and 103 of the UN Charter, the obligation of the Government of Sudan to fully cooperate with the Court prevails over any other international obligation that the Government of Sudan may have undertaken pursuant to any other international agreement.

Pre-Trial Chamber I also found that the Government of Sudan has systematically refused to cooperate with the Court since the issuance of warrants for the arrest of the Sudanese Minister for Humanitarian Affairs, Ahmad Harun, and a regional Janjaweed militia leader, Ali Kushayb, on 2 May 2007. As a result, the Judges emphasised that, according to article 87(7) of the Statute, if the Government of Sudan continues to fail to comply with its cooperation obligations to the Court, the competent Chamber “may make a finding to that effect” and decide to “refer the matter […] to the Security Council.”

Furthermore, the Judges noted that the dispositive part of UNSC resolution 1593 expressly urges all States, whether party or not to the Rome Statute, as well as international and regional organisations to “cooperate fully” with the Court.

Information concerning "ICC issues a warrant of arrest for Omar Al Bashir, President of Sudan"
For further information please contact Ms Laurence Blairon, Spokesperson, at
+31 (0)70 515 87 14 or +31 (0) 6 46 44 88 89 or at laurence.blairon@icc-cpi.int.

Interviews can be arranged in English or French. In order to request such interviews, please call Mr Fadi El-Abdallah (French and Arabic media) at +31 (0)70 515 91 52 or Ms Kerry Picket (English media) at +31 (0)70 515 91 30.

Click here for relevant links to:

- Decision on the Prosecution's Application for a Warrant of Arrest against Omar Hassan Ahmad Al Bashir
- Warrant of Arrest for Omar Hassan Ahmad Al Bashir
- Summary of the Decision
- Questions and Answers
- Case information sheet
- Statement of the Registrar of the ICC, Silvana Arbia
- Photo gallery
- - -


International Court Charges Sudan President with War Crimes
Report from Voice of America News 5 March 2009 - excerpt:

Photo: ICC's Chief prosecutor Luis Moreno Ocampo gives a press conference in The Hague, Netherlands, March 4, 2009 (VOA)

"As soon as al-Bashir travels through international airspace he can be arrested," he [chief prosecutor Luis Moreno Ocampo] said. "Like Slobodan Milosevic or Charles Taylor, Omar al-Bashir's destiny is to face justice. It will be in two months or two years, but he will face justice."

Dozens of protesters outside the court, many of them refugees from Darfur, cheered the decision.

Prosecutor Moreno Ocampo, meanwhile, played down the lack of genocide charges, saying he may appeal that at a later date, and played up the historic moment: the first time this court has issued an arrest warrant for a sitting head of state. It's now up to Sudanese authorities to arrest him. If they don't, which is likely, it's up to the UN Security Council to ensure Mr. al-Bashir's arrest -- effective immediately.

VP Ali Osman Mohamed Taha will announce Sudan's stance over ICC's decision at a press conference 8 p.m. local time

From China View (KHARTOUM) March 4 2009 (Xinhua) --
Sudanese take to the streets in protest of ICC decision

Thousands of Sudanese on Wednesday held a rally at the capital's Council of Ministers in response to the arrest warrant issued by the International Criminal Court's (ICC) to President Omar al-Bashir earlier in the day.

The majority of the rally are the country's civil servants, an organizer at the scene told Xinhua.

Witnesses said security was beefed up around foreign embassies while the protestors took to the streets of the capital.

Meanwhile, Sudanese Ministry of Information said that Vice President Ali Osman Mohamed Taha will announce Sudan's stance over the ICC's decision at a press conference at 8 p.m. local time.

The ICC on Wednesday issued an arrest warrant against Sudanese President Omar al-Bashir for war crimes and crimes against humanity in the country's restive western region of Darfur.

The genocide accusation, filed by the court's prosecutor Luis Moreno-Ocampo, was not included in the final decision.

Earlier on Tuesday, President al-Bashir vowed that any decision to be issued by the ICC will not affect his country.

"The Sudanese people do not care the decision," he said. Editor: Mu Xuequan

Sudan rejects ICC decision against Bashir

Sudan said on Wednesday the decision by the International Criminal Court (ICC) to issue an arrest warrant against President Omar Hassan al-Bashir over war crimes in Darfur was part of a "neo-colonialism" plan.

Sudanese presidential adviser Mustafa Osman Ismail said the government was not surprised by the decision.

"They do not want Sudan ... to become stable," he said.

Source: Reuters KHARTOUM, March 4, 2009   (Reporting by Aziz El-Kaissouni, writing by Alaa Shahine)

Photo: Omar al-Bashir has dismissed its proceedings against him as worthless (AFP)  

 

UK Telegraph report by Mike Pflanz in Nairobi 4 March 2009 - 

Darfur: ICC issues arrest warrant for Sudan president

The International Criminal Court has issued an arrest warrant for Sudan's president, Omar al-Bashir, for war crimes and crimes against humanity allegedly committed in Darfur.

Mr Bashir becomes the first sitting world leader to be called to answer charges at the Hague-based court. He has dismissed its proceedings against him as "worthless".

Judges at the court however opted not to extend the warrant for three counts of genocide that the prosecutor, Luis Moreno-Ocampo, had further accused the president of "masterminding and implementing".

Aid workers and expatriates in Sudan hunkered down as they waited for expected angry demonstrations against the West, especially in Khartoum, the capital on the banks of the River Nile. Military jets were patrolling above the city.

"No one's really sure how people will react, most probably there will be some flag-burning and marching and shouting, but nothing too serious," said one British development specialist in Khartoum.

"We can't be too careful, though, at least for the rest of today we'll just stay at home and see what happens."

The three judges at the ICC's "pre-trial chamber", from Ghana, Latvia and Brazil, agreed that the chief prosecutor, Luis Moreno-Ocampo, had presented enough evidence in seven of his ten allegations against Mr Bashir for the president to have a case to answer.

"Omar al Bashir is suspected of being criminally responsible as an indirect perpetrator for intentionally directing attacks against an important part of the civilian population of Darfur, murdering, exterminating, raping, torturing and forcibly transferring large numbers of civilians," said a court spokesman.

Two of the three judges "found that the material provided by the prosecution in support of its application for a warrant of arrest failed to provide reasonable grounds to believe that the government of Sudan acted with specific intent" to commit genocide against Darfur's three main tribes, the spokesman said.

Khartoum moved to crush an armed rebellion by Darfuri rebel groups in February 2003. More than 300,000 people have died and 2.5 million been forced from their villages into squalid camps in Darfur's three provinces, Western aid agencies calculate.

There are fears that Mr Bashir may now further hamper Western aid agencies' ability to help Darfur's displaced, or even launch fresh attacks in the name of "national security".

Whatever his reaction inside his own country, there is little immediate chance that he will appear in The Hague to answer the charges.

Sudan has not ratified the ICC's founding Rome Statute and thus has no legal requirement to hand its president over to the court. Four of Sudan's nine neighbours are similarly not parties to the court, and nor Mr Bashir's key allies in China or the Middle East.

"But if he travels to those places and they do not hand him over to the ICC, they are in effect sheltering a fugitive from international justice and impeding United Nations Security Council's resolution to co-operate in the ICC's procedures," said Christopher Hall, senior legal adviser to Amnesty International.

"I am confident that he will eventually be arrested, maybe not tomorrow, but it will happen, other people in Sudan are going to realise that having a president with an international arrest warrant out for him cannot help their country.

"For sure Mr Bashir is not going to have a good night's sleep for some time now.`'

ICC issues arrest warrant for Sudan's Bashir - Bashir formally charged by ICC on war crimes and crimes against humanity in Darfur but not genocide

Breaking news 13:30 GMT. ICC issues arrest warrant for Sudan's Bashir. Bashir formally charged by ICC on war crimes and crimes against humanity in Darfur but not genocide.

From AFP 4 March 2009:
ICC issues arrest warrant for Sudan's Beshir

THE HAGUE (AFP) — The International Criminal Court said Wednesday it has issued an arrest warrant for Sudan's President Omar al-Beshir for war crimes and crimes against humanity in Darfur.

- - -

From Sudan Tribune by Wasil Ali 4 March 2009:
Sudan’s Bashir formally charged by ICC on Darfur war crimes but not genocide

March 4, 2009 (WASHINGTON) — The International Criminal Court (ICC) announced that it sjudges approved charges made by its prosecutor against Sudanese president Omer Hassan Al-Bashir.

The ICC announced that the arrest warrant was issued for seven counts out of the ten submitted by the prosecutor. However the gencoide charges were dropped.

On July 14th 2008 the ICC prosecutor Luis Moreno-Ocampo filed 10 charges: three counts of genocide, five of crimes against humanity and two of murder and accused Al-Bashir of masterminding a campaign to get rid of the African tribes in Darfur; Fur, Masalit and Zaghawa.

The spokeswoman for the court in The Hague, Laurence Blairon, said the court would transmit as soon as possible to the government of Sudan a request for his arrest and surrender.

More here later.
- - -

Darfur arrest warrant issued against Sudan president
InTheNews.co.uk - ‎13 minutes ago‎
Sudanese president Omar al-Bashir has become the first sitting head of state to be indicted for war crimes after judges at The Hague decide issued a warrant ...

ICC wants President Bashir of Sudan arrested
Radio Netherlands - ‎17 minutes ago‎
The International Criminal Court issued an arrest warrant for Sudanese president Omar Hassan al-Bashir on Wednesday for crimes against humanity and war ...
- - -

From the BBC 13:26 GMT, Wednesday, 4 March 2009:
Warrant issued for Sudan's Bashir

The International Criminal Court has issued an arrest warrant for Sudan's president on charges of war crimes and crimes against humanity in Darfur.

However, the court stopped short of accusing Omar al-Bashir, who denies the charges, of committing genocide.

Reports say Sudan's capital, Khartoum, was tense as people awaited the decision, with fears of unrest.

The UN estimates some 300,000 people have died and millions been displaced in six years of conflict in the region.

The spokeswoman for the court in The Hague, Laurence Blairon, said Mr Bashir was suspected of being criminally responsible for "murdering, exterminating, raping, torturing and forcibly transferring large numbers of civilians and pillaging their property".

She said the violence in Darfur was the result of a common plan organised at the highest level of the Sudanese government, but there was no evidence of genocide.

The court would transmit as soon as possible to the government of Sudan a request for his arrest and surrender, she added.
It is the ICC's first ever warrant issued against a sitting head of state.

ICC prosecutor Luis Moreno-Ocampo had requested that the court issue a warrant for Mr Bashir's arrest in July 2008.

- - -

From Associated Press 4 March 2009:
Intn'l court issues warrant for Sudanese president

THE HAGUE, Netherlands (AP) — The International Criminal Court has issued an arrest warrant for Sudanese President Omar al-Bashir on charges of war crimes and crimes against humanity in Darfur.
But the three-judge panel said there was insufficient evidence to support charges of genocide.

- - -

From BBC News by Amber Henshaw, Sudan correspondent 13:15 GMT, Wednesday, 4 March 2009:
Will warrant tip Sudan into abyss?

Sudan orders Doctors Without Borders (MSF) to evacuate staff from 4 Darfur towns

Report by AFP (Paris) 4 March 2009 13:12 GMT
Sudan orders Doctors Without Borders out of Darfur

The French medical aid organisation Doctors Without Borders (MSF) said Wednesday it was pulling staff out of Darfur after the Sudanese government ordered them to leave.

"The government of Sudan has ordered MSF to evacuate all of its international personnel from a certain number of projects in western and southern Darfur by March 4 at the latest," MSF said in a message posted on its website.

Khartoum said it was unable to ensure the safety of the MSF teams given the imminent decision by the International Criminal Court in The Hague on whether to issue an arrest warrant for President Omar al-Beshir for war crimes, the organisation said.

A MSF official said about 70 people including foreigners and Sudanese nationals who are not from Darfur were pulled out on Tuesday from four towns in the province.

ICC live streaming of the Al Bashir press conference

From International Criminal Court website:

Media Advisory: 03.03.2009

Updated information on the press conference of 4 March 2009 on the decision of Pre-Trial Chamber I concerning President Al Bashir of Sudan
ICC-CPI-20090303-MA36

After the press conference, which will be hosted by the Registrar of the Court, Ms Silvana Arbia, and the ICC Spokesperson, Ms Laurence Blairon, the Prosecutor, Mr. Luis Moreno-Ocampo, will also make a short statement in English and take some questions.

It should be noted that the press conference will be broadcast live on the Court’s website. Please use the following links:
Live streaming of the Al Bashir press conference
English | Français

Finally, NOS Eurovision will provide a video link for the live broadcast of the press conference via satellite to Europe, Middle East, and North, Latin America and Africa.

Please find the frequency details below:
Date: 04.03.09
Time: 12:45 – 14:30 gmt

Route 1: Europe
Uplink: HOL-220 The Hague
Satellite: W1 F2 CH G+: 14069.497 X pol / 12569.497 Y pol (line up with Eutelsat CSC)
Parameters: 625 pal, 6.1113, ¾.
Audios: 1: English, 2: French and 3: Arabic.

Route 2: Middle East
Downlink: Satlink Israel for a transport stream turn to:
Satellite: Asiasat 2 txp 7A ch2: 6120.500 X / 3895.500 Y
Parameters: 625 pal, 6.1113, ¾.
Audios: 1: English, 2: French and 3: Arabic.

Route 3: North America
Downlink: Globecast UK >> convert to NTSC fibre via Paris to Globecast NY for uplink to:
Satellite: Galaxy 3C (C) /21 FULL d/l: 4120 X pol (analogue 36 mhz)
Parameters: 525 ntsc, 3 x analogue audios 6.2, 6.8 and 5.8.
Audios: 1: English, 2: French and 3: Arabic.

Route 4: Latin America
Globecast UK uplink to:
Satellite: IS9 txp 24C slot A: d/l: 4146.500 X pol
Parameters: 525 ntsc, 6.1113, ¾.
Audios: 1: English, 2: French and 3:Arabic.

Route 5: Africa
Globecast UK to turn to W1 F2 CHG+ >> IS904 txp 38 ch 1A – 6386.500 LHCP / 4161.5000 RHCP
Parameters: 625 pal, 6.1113, ¾.
Audios: 1: English, 2: French and 3: Arabic.

For further information please contact Mme Els Felderhof, NOS Eurovisie, at +31 35 677 3604, or at eurovisie@nos.nl

SLM's Abdel Wahid al-Nur in France calls for transitional government in Sudan

From Sudan Tribune Wednesday 4 March 2009 07:01:
Darfur rebel leader calls for transitional government in Sudan:

March 4, 2009 (PARIS) — The leader of the rebel Sudan Liberation Movement (SLM) has called for the formation of a national coalition government to lead the country out of the current political situation and settle the Darfur crisis.



Photo: Abdel-Wahid Al-Nur

On the eve of the ICC decision over an arrest warrant request for the Sudanese president, the political situation is seen as very unstable despite the huge efforts done by Khartoum to rally the political forces and the civil society behind its president.

Government officials have also warned they would not tolerate any support to the world tribunal on the cases of Darfur crimes. They publicly said they would hit any

Abdel Wahid Al-Nur, the rebel chief, called today for a large coalition government for the Sudanese democratic forces to end the six year conflict in Darfur and organize general elections in the country.

"We in the SLM believe that Sudanese democratic forces which adhere to the respect of human rights and state of law and citizenship" Al-Nur said.

The rebel leader further said that the agenda of this transitional government is to provide security and to end the six-year violence practiced by the government of the National Congress Party against the defenseless civilians in Darfur.

On the national level, he said the main task of this government is to maintain public order in the country and prevent any chaos as well as the management of the daily affairs of the state. This proposed government, according to Al-Nur, should organize a constitutional roundtable to discuss ways to ensure and implement civil liberties and human rights in the country.

He pointed out that the purpose of such a conference would be to determine "once and for all" the endless debates in the country about the place of religion in the state by adopting the principle of the secular state as one of the pillars that can guarantee the equal citizenship rights in a country characterized by its cultural and ethnic diversity.

"Of course a bill of rights also should be adopted to guarantee the supremacy of civil liberties, like the freedom of expression, freedom of thinking, freedom of religion and freedom of speech, in order protect the individual from oppressive governments," he further added.

Since more than six months the two partners of the Comprehensive Peace Agreement (CPA) have discussed the security and press bills and didn’t yet reached a definitive ground on two issues crucial for the holding of a free election in the country.

With regard to the CPA, the rebel leader stressed the importance of the 2005 agreement and considered it as an historical achievement. However he pointed out the need to review some aspects in the peace deal after four years of ill implementation.

"We need to consolidate the national values and to provide more powers to the regions in the country" he added, "all these steps aim to preserve the national unity of the Sudan"

Al-Nur, who said that this transitional government should be led by his movement, proposed that it must have a clear mission and fixed time to achieve its goals before the run-off free and fair general elections monitored by the international community.

Al-Nur, in making his statement said he is aware that such proposal represents a new approach to settle Darfur crisis. He added that this would allow to address at the same time. "our two major concern is the future of the Sudan and the rights of Darfur people."

The SLM founder refused last month to take part in a peace process mediated by the Qatari government and the joint envoy. He asks first to provide security to the IDPs who should regain their homes and villages after the disarmament of the Janjaweed militias and expulsion of government supported newcomers from their lands.

In a roadmap released in September 2007, the SLM says that peace talks should be dedicated to discuss "the root causes of the problem."

A holder of law degree from Khartoum University, Al Nur worked as lawyer before to hold arms and fight against government policy in Darfur. He created the SLM ten years before to start the insurgency. (ST)

Darfur rebels vow full ICC cooperation ahead of ruling on Bashir case

From Sudan Tribune Monday 2 March 2009 05:00:
Darfur rebels vow full ICC cooperation ahead of ruling on Bashir case

March 1, 2009 (PARIS) — The leaders of the major Darfur rebel groups pledged full cooperation with the International Criminal Court (ICC) days before judges make a ruling on a war crimes case against president Omer Hassan Al-Bashir.



Photo: From left to right: Secretary of external affairs at the Darfur United Resistance Front (URF) Tag Al-Din Bashir; Leader of Sudan Liberation Movement (SLM) legacy faction Abdel-Wahid Al-Nur; Sudan Liberation Army (SLA) humanitarian coordinator Suleiman Jamous; Justice and Equality Movement (JEM) leader Khalil Ibrahim

On Wednesday the ICC judges will release their decision on a request by prosecutor Luis Moreno-Ocampo submitted last July for an arrest warrant against Bashir accusing him masterminding a campaign to get rid of the African tribes in Darfur; Fur, Masalit and Zaghawa.

At the time Darfur rebel groups hailed the ICC move against the Sudanese president saying it is a victory for the Darfuri people.

Last November the ICC prosecutor submitted a second case against three unidentified rebel commanders accused of attacking a military base in last October 2007 that left 10 African Union (AU) soldiers dead and one missing.

“We are not calling for justice for the others and denying it for ourselves. Justice is justice and peace is peace and a crime is a crime. We will not hide and we mean it” the secretary of external affairs at the Darfur United Resistance Front (URF) Tag Al-Din Bashir said on a video broadcasted online.

“We don’t say to Bashir you go. No, we should also go when we have been called. We are going to cooperate very closely with the ICC and we are going to work hand in hand with the ICC to reveal all the truth and to implement international justice in a manner that is going to be a good example for us in Darfur, in Sudan, in Africa” he added.

Asked whether they will hand over any of their commanders if they indicted the URF official responded “it is not of the URF will hand them over, they will voluntarily go”.

The ICC prosecutor in his application left the door open for an issuing a summons to appear rather than an arrest warrant if the rebel commanders cooperate.

“Subject to the Pre-Trial Chamber’s determination, the Prosecution submits that a summons to appear could be an alternative pursued by the Court if the Court receives information as to the possible voluntary appearance of the individuals” the application reads.

Ocampo also told AFP that “while the judges decide on the warrants, they [suspects] now have the chance to appear on their own accord. They know who they are”.

Suleiman Jamous, the Sudan Liberation Army (SLA) humanitarian coordinator also appearing on the video said that international justice “will be carried out towards Al-Bashir so I think it is not easy then to say that if it came to our side we will not cooperate with the ICC”.

“So if any our people are indicted he will willingly to go and to tell the international community that we are innocent and then he will come back” he said.

Jamous also promised to help the ICC capture the suspects if within their ranks or in other groups if within their capacity.

He also denied that the decision of his movement to remove one of its commanders Salih Jarbo linked to reports that he is one of the three suspects.

The head of the Sudan Liberation Movement (SLM) legacy faction Abdel-Wahid Al-Nur said that he will turn himself in along with any of his rebel group to the ICC if needed “without any preconditions”.

The Justice and Equality Movement (JEM) chief Khalil Ibrahim who recently signed a goodwill accord with Khartoum echoed Al-Nur’s call saying that they “don’t fear at all” the Hague-based court.

“We are admiring the ICC, we are fully supporting the ICC. We are ready to go to ICC including myself and we are ready to work as tool ICC to capture anybody” Ibrahim said.

The JEM leader has made statements this month saying that if a warrant is issued for Bashir then it is “an end of his legitimacy to be president of Sudan”.

“We will work hard to bring him down ... If he doesn’t cooperate with the ICC, the war will intensify”.

Sudan refused to recognize the jurisdiction of the ICC saying it has not ratified the treaty establishing the court. Currently there are two ICC arrest warrants pending for Ahmed Haroun, state minister for humanitarian affairs, and militia commander Ali Mohamed Ali Abdel-Rahman, also know as Ali Kushayb.

The UN Security Council (UNSC) issued resolution 1593 under chapter VII in March 2005 referring the situation in Darfur to the ICC. (ST)

Video can be seen here below or here

Responding to sealed indictments issued by the International Criminal Court for three rebel field commanders in Darfur wanted in connection with the attack on AU peacekeepers at Haskanita in 2007 in which 12 peacekeepers died, the leadership of the four main rebel groups in Darfur pledge full cooperation with the ICC. Those interviewed here include Khalil Ibrahim (JEM), Abdelwahid Mohammed Nur (SLM/A), Suleiman Jamous (SLM Unity) and Tadjedin Bashir Niam (URF)


Darfur rebels promise to cooperate with ICC from Darfur Tribune on Vimeo

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JEM's Dr Tahar Adam al Fik



Photo: Justice and Equality Movement (JEM) leader Dr Tahar Adam al Fiki, seen, during the Darfur Peace Talks, in Doha, Qatar, Tuesday, Feb. 10, 2009. (AP Photos/Maneesh Bakshi)

Sudan gov't describes video on Janjaweed defectors as ‘fabrications’

This morning, I was surprised to read a news report from the BBC's Today programme stating that the author of the report, journalist Mike Thomson, has reported for years on Sudan's conflict. After five years of reading tens of thousands of news reports on the Sudan crisis, I find it impossible to believe the actual wording of 'witness statements' such as the ones published in Mike Thomson's report, copied here below.

Approximately five years ago, when eyewitness accounts started coming out of Darfur, western Sudan, the translations from Arabic into English sounded nothing like the statements quoted in today's BBC's report and its accompanying video. To me, the Arabic language sounded like from another world, passionate, flowery and poetic and strange to my English born ears, not unlike how Osama Bin Laden comes across in his taped messages to the media. Their construction of sentences seemed quite different to ours in the English speaking world. Over the years, I've read hundreds of comments at Sudan Tribune posted by Sudanese people. Their comments, mostly in broken English, tend to be composed in fragmented sentences, nothing like the flow of an English speaking westerner.

Here's another thing about the BBC's report. Just because an eyewitness sees a person wearing a Sudanese army uniform does not necessarily mean that the person wearing the uniform is a Sudanese army soldier. Rebels and bandits steal all sorts of uniforms, gear and aid trucks.

As for the video interview in the BBC's report, what is the point of broadcasting anonymously I ask myself. If one cannot verify the source of the report one ought not to broadcast. What was the point of the BBC's report I wonder, to give anonymous people a voice? Why on the day of the ICC's judges announcing their ruling on Sudan's president, I wonder. Smells of political activism to me. Shame on the BBC for such shabby reporting.

BBC Today programme report by Mike Thomson 4 March 2009:
Arresting a president

In late 2007 I was in a large and overcrowded camp for displaced people just outside the western Darfur town of El Fasher.

A young mother, her face wet with tears, told me the story of how she came to be there.

"It was six in the morning when we heard the sounds of airplanes, horses and camels," she said.

"Then came gunfire. We were very frightened and stayed in our homes. After a while some men with guns arrived in the village and told us it was safe to come out. There were nine people in our house, including my son and my brother.

"The gumen told them to lie down. Then they shot them all. The men took everything. They even took my clothes and left me naked."

Khadiga Osman says Sudanese government soldiers helped the Janjaweed Arab militia carry out the massacre. "I saw their uniforms clearly," she told me.

Many others in Darfur said the same.

But given the Sudanese government's repeated denials that their soldiers backed or helped the Janjaweed carry out atrocities, the allegations have long been hard to prove.

Yet now a former Sudanese soldier has claimed that his regiment, based near the town of El Fasher, joined Janjaweed fighters in seven attacks on villages from late 2002.

Khalid, which is not his real name, says he was forcibly recruited and then left in no doubt what officers wanted him and his fellow black conscripts to do.

"The orders given to us are to burn the villages completely. We don't have to leave anything, even the water pots we have to destroy. We even have to poison the water wells.

"We were also given an order to kill all the women and rape the girls under 13 and 14 downwards."

He confirmed he was ordered to rape and kill adults and children.

Khalid admits to taking part in burning peoples' homes but insisted that he had no choice because he had seen two other conscripts of black African origin shot dead after refusing to do what they were told.

Simulated rape

But he says he always tried to shoot over people's heads and merely simulated the rape of a young women that he was ordered to violate.

I asked Khalid what orders he was given about what to do with unarmed civilians who offered no resistance.

"They said they are the ones who help the rebels and you have to kill everybody. Don't leave anybody, just kill everybody."

Khalid said he was also told to shoot children that had been left behind by their parents.

He estimates that the number of civilian killings he witnessed by Janjaweed and government troops runs into more than 1,000.

Finally, after a year's service, he deserted from the army and later managed to get out of the country.

Fearful that members of the International Criminal Court might come knocking on his door with an arrest warrant, Khalid asked me not to reveal his name or the place where he now lives.

But he insists that the blame for all that happened lies not with him, but with the President of Sudan, Omar Al-Bashir.

"Omar Bashir is in the chair. All information comes from him. The responsibility is down to him. He is the first person that is responsible for the genocide, of the killing of the children, of everything.

"If you are head of the country then any crimes then you are responsible for any crimes done by your soldiers. It is al-Bashir doing all these things."

Click here to view filmed interview.

'We were ordered to kill all the women'

Should judges from the International Criminal Court come to the same decision, which it is widely expected that they will, a warrant will be issued for the arrest of the Sudanese President.

He is currently accused of war crimes, crimes against humanity and genocide.

However, responsibility for the execution of a warrant for some, or all of these charges, will be left to the Sudanese authorities.

So far they have refused repeatedly to hand over two other Sudanese officials also wanted by the ICC.

As a result nobody should expect to see Mr al-Bashir standing trial in the Hague any time soon.

This report comes across as being engineered by political activism.  I have highlighted dubious text in red.  

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From Sudan Tribune Wednesday 4 March 2009 - excerpt:
Sudan describes video on Janjaweed defectors as ‘fabrications’

March 3, 2009 (CAIRO) — The Sudanese government said that a series of videos showing defecting members of the notorious Janjaweed militias and soldiers speaking about attacks carried out in Darfur as well as their links with government officials were fabricated.



Photo: Armed pro-government janjaweed fighter passes by a Sudanese camel herder from one of Darfur’s dominant nomad Arab tribes, Rezeigat, at the marketplace in the West Darfur town of Mukjar, Sudan (AP)

The videos were release by the UK based group Aegis Trust but was also re-circulated by the Cairo Institute for Human Rights Studies (CHRS) and some Egyptian newspapers.

One of the alleged Janjaweed commanders shown by the name of Suleiman said that he met with Sudan 2nd Vice President Ali Osman Taha who came to Al-Fasher in North Darfur.

“He gave us instructions; just you bring to us your people, Arab people from there. I give you the weapons, the money, the horses, the camels and the uniform” he said.

Suleiman also claimed that Taha told them “We need only land. We don’t need the people here”.

Rights group and Western governments say the Sudanese government has used the Janjaweed as auxiliaries against Darfur rebels and civilians suspected of rebel sympathies. The government denies this and says the Janjaweed are outlaws.

Another Janjaweed soldier by the name of Ali said that they received the orders from Khartoum. He described killing children as young as five years old.

A senior army finance officer on the video said that money and salaries to the militias was distributed by Ahmed Haroun, state minister for humanitarian affairs who is wanted by the International Criminal Court (ICC).

“There is a promise to the Janjaweed beside the money they give them, they must take everything in the village” Suleiman said.

A Sudanese solider named Osman said that raping women and girls “is an order” and those who defy would be killed.

Suleiman acknowledged that rape was not ordered by the government “but they have all the information”.

The Sudanese ambassador to Cairo Abdel-Moniem Mabrouk said that the allegations by the defectors “are baseless”.

Mabrouk said that it was proved that these testimonies have been proved to be “a hoax” which is why “they were pulled from the internet”.

The Sudanese official further accused certain organization of paying some anonymous people to make these statements in order to “support the position of the International Criminal Court (ICC)”.

He criticized the Egyptian media for re-publishing the video saying that they should work to “ensure accuracy when receiving material from suspicious organizations that are closely linked to Western circles”.

Some observers in Khartoum have suggested that the move was correlated with worsening relations between Egypt and Sudan over the Gaza crisis. The Sudanese government attended an emergency summit in Qatar on the Gaza conflict which was boycotted by Egypt, Saudi Arabia and the Palestinian Authority.

Cairo viewed the summit as a gathering of more radical voices working counter to its efforts to broker a ceasefire between Israel and Hamas movement which is in control of the Gaza strip. [...]