ICC issues Arrest Warrant against Bashir for Genocide

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Renata Alves

13 July, 2010

'The judges of the court think that there are logical reason to believe that al-Bashir is answerable for three counts of genocide committed against the Fur, Masalit, and Zaghawa ethnic groups,

AN ARREST warrant has been issued by The International Criminal Court for Sudan's President Omar Hassan al-Bashir for the crime of genocide. ICC is issuing his arrest warrant for the second time. Mr. Bashir was charged with crimes against humanity and war crimes last year also i.e. in 2009. According to the United Nations, nearly 300,000 people have died in Sudan's western region of Darfur since conflict started seven years ago.

Sonja Robla, ICC spokesperson says that President Bashir is charged with genocide against three ethnic groups. Further she says,"The judges of the court think that there are logical reason to believe that al-Bashir is answerable for three counts of genocide committed against the Fur, Masalit, and Zaghawa ethnic groups, which includes; genocide by killing, genocide by causing serious bodily or mental harm and genocide by deliberately inflicting on each target group conditions of life calculated to bring about the group's physical destruction.

Last year, genocide was gone astray from the list of charges because of inadequate proof. But Robla says on petition, the ICC judges decided there were "reasonable grounds" to believe he is questionable for genocide.

On the other hand,President Bashir denies the charges against him and has not been arrested. Sudan's ambassador to the United Nations ,Abdalmahmoud Abdalhaleem, , called the new arrest warrant a "evil and desperate attempt" to threaten the country.Further he said that We express disapproval of this move in strongest terms and we are certain that the Sudanese people and all peace-loving nations will make sure the termination of this unlawful organization.

From International Justice Program at New York-based Human Rights Watch, Elise Kepler says that UN Security Council has to put more pressure on Sudan to cooperate with the arrest warrant. It's vital that the council play its part to make certain that Bashir and the other suspects appear before the International Criminal Court so that there can be justice done. It's not enough to have the cases in progress; you have to bring the suspects before the court.