International Criminal Court investigation in Darfur

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The International Criminal Court investigation in Darfur or the situation in Darfur is an ongoing investigation by the International Criminal Court (ICC) into criminal acts committed during the War in Darfur. Although Sudan is not a state party to the Rome Statute, the treaty which created the ICC, the situation in Darfur was referred to the ICC's Prosecutor by the United Nations Security Council in 2005.^[1] As of 2012 seven suspects have been indicted by the court: Ahmed Haroun and Ali Kushayb, Omar al-Bashir, Bahar Abu Garda, Abdallah Banda and Saleh Jerbo, and Abdel Rahim Mohammed Hussein.^[2]

Background

The Darfur conflict was a guerrilla conflict that took place in the Darfur region of Sudan from 2003 until 2009–2010. The conflict began when the Sudan Liberation Army and the Justice and Equality Movement began attacking the Sudanese government in response to perceived oppression of black Sudanese by the majority Arab government.^[3] During the conflict government forces and Janjaweed militia have attacked black Sudanese in the Darfur region. These actions have been described as genocide by a number of governments and human rights groups. Omar al-Bashir, Sudan's president has denied that his government has links to Janjaweed^[3]

Referral

The International Criminal Court only has jurisdiction to investigate alleged crimes which have taken place in states or by the nationals of states that are party to the Rome Statute or that have accepted the Court's jurisdiction. Additionally, a situation can be referred to the ICC's Chief Prosecutor by the UN Security Council. In the case of Darfur, the Security Council referred the situation on 31 March 2005 after the passage of Resolution 1593.^[4] The resolution was passed by a vote of 11 in favor and zero against, with four abstentions. Argentina, Benin, Denmark, France, Greece, Japan, the Philippines, Romania, Russia, Tanzania, and the United Kingdom voted in favor and Algeria, Brazil, China, and the United States abstained.^[4]

The Prosecutor, Luis Moreno Ocampo, formally opened an investigation on 6 June 2005.^[1]

Charges

The ICC Prosecutor has charged six people with offences within the jurisdiction of the ICC, which can prosecute individuals who are accused of committed three categories of crime: genocide, crimes against humanity and war crimes.

Ahmed Haroun and Ali Kushayb

Ahmed Haroun was formerly Minister of State for the Interior in the Government of Sudan and later the Minister of State for Humanitarian Affairs. He is alleged to have commanded the "Darfur security desk" which coordinated the counterinsurgency in Darfur and provided arms to the Janjaweed. Ali Muhammad Ali Abd-Al-Rahman, or Ali Kushayb, was allegedly the leader of the Janjaweed. Hauron and Kushayb were charged with the total of 51 counts of war crimes and crimes against humanity against the Fur people.^[5][6]

The first nine counts concern attacks in and around the Kodoom villages from or around 15 August 2003 to or around 31 August 2003. Counts 10 to 20 concern attacks in and around the town of Bindisi from or around 15 August 2003 to or around 31 August 2003. Counts 21 to 37 concern attacks in and around the town of Mukjar in or around August 2003, September 2003, October 2003, December 2003, and March 2004. Counts 38 to 51 concern attacks in and around the town of Arawala in or around December 2003.^[5][6] Haroun is charged with 20 counts of crimes against humanity and 22 counts of war crimes while Kushayb is charged with 22 counts of crimes against humanity and 28 counts of war crimes.^[5][6] War crimes are listed below WC and crimes against humanity as CAH. The statute column contains the reference to the crime in the articles of the Rome Statute.

Count	CAH	WC	Crime	Statute	Haroun	Kushayb
1	Y	N	Persecution	Article 7(1)(h)	Y	Y
2	Y	N	Murder	Article 7(1)(a)	Y	Y
3	N	Y	Murder	Article 8(2)(c)(i)	Y	Y
4	Y	N	Murder	Article 7(1)(a)	Y	Y
5	N	Y	Murder	Article 8(2)(c)(i)	Y	Y
6	N	Y	Attack against a civilian population	Article 8(2)(e)(i)	Y	Y
7	N	Y	Attack against a civilian population	Article 8(2)(e)(i)	N	Y
8	N	Y	Destruction of property	Article 8(2)(e)(xii)	Y	Y
9	Y	N	Forcible transfer of a population	Article 7(1)(d)	Y	Y
10	Y	N	Persecution	Article 7(1)(h)	Y	Y
11	Y	N	Murder	Article 7(1)(a)	Y	Y
12	N	Y	Murder	Article 8(2)(c)(i)	Y	Y
13	Y	N	Rape	Article 7(1)(g)	Y	Y
14	N	Y	Rape	Article 8(2)(e)(vi)	Y	Y
15	N	Y	Attack against a civilian population	Article 8(2)(e)(i)	Y	Y
16	N	Y	Attack against a civilian population	Article 8(2)(e)(i)	N	Y
17	Y	N	Inhumane acts	Article 7(1)(k)	Y	Y
18	N	Y	Pillaging	Article 8(2)(e)(v)	Y	Y
19	N	Y	Destruction of property	Article 8(2)(e)(xii)	Y	Y
20	Y	N	Forcible transfer of a population	Article 7(1)(d)	Y	Y
21	Y	N	Persecution	Article 7(1)(h)	Y	Y
22	Y	N	Murder	Article 7(1)(a)	Y	Y
23	N	Y	Murder	Article 8(2)(c)(i)	Y	Y
24	Y	N	Murder	Article 7(1)(a)	Y	Y
25	Y	N	Murder	Article 7(1)(a)	N	Y
26	N	Y	Murder	Article 8(2)(c)(i)	Y	Y
27	N	Y	Murder	Article 8(2)(c)(i)	N	Y
28	Y	N	Murder	Article 7(1)(a)	Y	Y
29	Y	N	Murder	Article 7(1)(a)	N	Y
30	N	Y	Murder	Article 8(2)(c)(i)	Y	Y
31	N	Y	Murder	Article 8(2)(c)(i)	N	Y
32	N	Y	Attack against a civilian population	Article 8(2)(e)(i)	Y	Y
33	N	Y	Attack against a civilian population	Article 8(2)(e)(i)	N	Y
34	Y	N	Imprisonment or severe deprivation of liberty	Article 7(1)(e)	Y	Y
35	Y	N	Torture	Article 7(1)(f)	Y	Y
36	N	Y	Pillaging	Article 8(2)(e)(v)	Y	Y
37	N	Y	Destruction of property	Article 8(2)(e)(xii)	Y	N
38	Y	N	Persecution	Article 7(1)(h)	Y	Y
39	Y	N	Murder	Article 7(1)(a)	Y	Y
40	N	Y	Murder	Article 8(2)(c)(i)	Y	Y
41	Y	N	Rape	Article 7(1)(g)	Y	Y
42	N	Y	Rape	Article 8(2)(e)(vi)	Y	Y
43	N	Y	Attack against a civilian population	Article 8(2)(e)(i)	Y	Y
44	N	Y	Attack against a civilian population	Article 8(2)(e)(i)	Y	Y
45	N	Y	Outrage upon personal dignity	Article 8(2)(c)(ii)	N	Y
46	N	Y	Outrage upon personal dignity	Article 8(2)(c)(ii)	Y	Y
47	N	Y	Outrage upon personal dignity	Article 8(2)(c)(ii)	N	Y
48	Y	N	Inhumane acts	Article 7(1)(k)	Y	Y
49	N	Y	Pillaging	Article 8(2)(e)(v)	Y	Y
50	N	Y	Destruction of property	Article 8(2)(e)(xii)	Y	Y
51	Y	N	Forcible transfer of a population	Article 7(1)(d)	Y	Y

Omar al-Bashir

Omar al-Bashir is the President of Sudan. He was indicted on 4 March 2009 with five counts of crimes against humanity and two counts of war crimes:^[7]

1. Attack against a civilian population, constituting a war crime in violation of article 8(2)(e)(i) of the Rome Statute;
2. Pillaging, constituting a war crime in violation of article 8(2)(e)(v) of the Rome Statute;
3. Murder, constituting a crime against humanity in violation of article 7(1)(a) of the Rome Statute;
4. Extermination, constituting a crime against humanity in violation of article 7(1)(b) of the Rome Statute;
5. Forcible transfer of a population, constituting a crime against humanity in violation of article 7(1)(d) of the Rome Statute;
6. Torture, constituting a crime against humanity in violation of article 7(1)(f) of the Rome Statute;
7. Rape,constituting a crime against humanity in violation of article 7(1)(g) of the Rome Statute.

On 12 July 2010 he was additionally charged with three counts of genocide:^[8]

1. Killing, constituting a crime of genocide in violation of article 6(a) of the Rome Statute;
2. Causing serious bodily of mental harm, constituting a crime of genocide in violation of article 6(b) of the Rome Statute;
3. Deliberately inflicting conditions of life calculated to bring about physical destitution, constituting a crime of genocide in violation of article 6(c) of the Rome Statute.

References

International Criminal Court (ICC)
Legal texts	International Rome Statute (amendments) Agreement on Privileges and Immunities Agreements on the Enforcement of Sentences Geneva Conventions United Nations Charter UN resolutions General Assembly 3314 Security Council 1422 1487 1593 1970 National American Service-Members' Protection Act (United States) Crimes Against Humanity and War Crimes Act (Canada) International Criminal Court Act 2001 (United Kingdom) Twenty-third Amendment of the Constitution (Ireland) Völkerstrafgesetzbuch (Germany)
Crimes	Crimes of genocide Crimes against humanity War crimes Crimes of aggression
Organisation	States parties List of states parties Presidents and Vice-Presidents of the Assembly of States Parties Review Conference Court Presidency Judges (elections: 2003 2006 2007 Jan. 2009 Nov. 2009 2011 2013 2014 2015) Prosecutor
Investigations	Official Democratic Republic of the Congo Uganda Darfur Kenya Mali Complaints Iraq Individuals Detainees Indictees
Other	Legal Tools Database American Non-Governmental Organizations Coalition for the ICC Coalition for the ICC European Union and the ICC United States and the ICC World Day for International Justice