On Tuesday, the East African country of Sudan took the first step towards joining the International Criminal Court.
The country’s cabinet’s decision to join the Rome Statute is a step forward in the long-awaited trial of suspected war crimes and genocide suspects in the Darfur conflict, including former President Omar al-Bashir.
However, the bill still needs to be ratified by a joint meeting of Sudan’s sovereign council and cabinet. Together they function as an interim parliament. The Cabinet did not offer a time frame for ratification.
Sudan has been led by a joint military-civilian government since a popular uprising led to the military overthrow of al-Bashir in April 2019. The transitional government, which promised democratic reforms, has previously said suspected war crimes including al-Bashir would be tried before the ICC. but the trial is the subject of negotiations with the Hague-based court.
Tuesday’s decision came two months after a visit by then-International Criminal Court Prosecutor Fatou Bensouda in Khartoum and Darfur, urging the country’s transitional authorities to hand over suspected war crimes and genocide suspects in the Darfur conflict.
The Darfur conflict erupted when rebels from the sub-Saharan ethnic and sub-Saharan African people began an uprising in 2003, complaining about the repression of the Arab-dominated government in Khartoum.
Al-Bashir’s government responded with a campaign of airstrikes and raids by militias called janjaweed, which is accused of mass murder and rape. Up to 300,000 people were killed and 2.7 million were driven from their homes.
The court accused al-Bashir of war crimes and genocide for claiming to have justified the attack in Darfur. Sudan’s prosecutors launched their own investigation into the Darfur conflict last year.
Two other leading figures from al-Bashir’s regime are also accused by the court: Abdel-Rahim Muhammad Hussein, interior and defense minister during much of the conflict, and Ahmed Haroun, the then top security chief and later leader of al-Bashir’s ruling party. Both Hussein and Haroun have been arrested in Khartoum since the Sudanese military, under pressure from protesters, ousted al-Bashir in April 2019.
The court also indicted rebel leader Abdulla Banda, whose whereabouts are unknown, and Janjaweed leader Ali Kushayb, who in May was accused of crimes against humanity and war crimes.
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