President Omar al-Bashir of Sudan is wanted by the International Criminal Court (ICC) for genocide.
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE: December 2, 2011
RIGHTS GROUP CALLS NEW ICC ARREST WARRANT FOR SUDAN GOVT LEADER MODEST BUT INSUFFICENT STEP Seeks U.S. Leadership for True Justice in Sudan
(Washington, DC) – United to End Genocide President Tom Andrews released the following statement today in response to the International Criminal Court’s request for an arrest warrant for Sudanese Defense Minister General Abdulrahim Mohamed Hussein, for crimes against humanity and war crimes committed in Darfur: “The ICC’s action is a modest but insufficient step toward holding perpetrators accountable for heinous crimes they have committed against the people of Darfur.
The fact remains that the worst perpetrators that are wanted by the ICC continue to commit these crimes with impunity and travel freely around the world.
Sudan’s president Omar al-Bashir and his cronies continue to commit atrocities that have displaced more than 500,000 people from Darfur, South Kordofan, Blue Nile and Abyei this year, and these attacks show no signs of slowing despite the ICC warrants against them. “Because of failure of the UN Security Council to act, only crimes committed in Darfur are allowed to be pursued by the ICC, leaving the mounting atrocities in South Kordofan, Blue Nile and Abyei beyond the reach of ICC prosecutors.
“The people of Sudan deserve the true justice that will only come when the Obama administration and international community stand up to Bashir’s murderous regime.
The Obama Administration must immediately impose strong sanctions on Bashir and other leaders responsible for attacks against civilians – not just in Darfur but everywhere atrocities are being committed.
The administration must also play a leadership role to forge UN Security Council action including sanctions, the deployment of a civilian protection force, an arms embargo for all of Sudan and an ICC investigation into the atrocities still being committed in South Kordofan and Blue Nile that will make it possible for all perpetrators to be brought to justice.”
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The Save Darfur Coalition and Genocide Intervention Network are now United to End Genocide. The organization remains committed to its work to end the crisis in Darfur and bring peace to all of Sudan as well as to end violence in other areas of mass atrocities. The merger creates the world’s largest anti-genocide activist organization, with a membership base of hundreds of thousands of committed activists, an unparalleled nationwide student movement, more than 190 faith-based, advocacy and human rights partner organizations, and a network of institutional investors collectively representing more than $3 trillion in assets under management.
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