Sudan's President Omar al-Bashir, has been slapped with three counts of genocide in Darfur by the International Criminal Court at The Hague. Last year, an arrest warrant for war crimes and crimes against humanity was issued against the leader of the largest country in Africa.
The Court's pre-trial chamber said that there are reasonable grounds to believe that Bashir is responsible for three counts of genocide against the Fur, Masalit and Zaghawa ethnic groups in the region. The charges include genocide by killing; genocide by causing serious bodily or mental harm; and genocide by deliberately inflicting conditions of life meant to destroy each target group.
The conflict between the ethnic tribes of Darfur and the predominantly Arab government has been persisting for almost ten years. The fighting has been interrupted by efforts to make peace but this has not stopped low-level skirmishes, which are continuing along with attacks on UN peacekeepers stationed there.
The rebel groups in the western part of the nation claim that they have been marginalised for decades and want greater political autonomy and more economic resources to be directed towards them. At the peak of fighting, the notorious government-backed militia, the Janjaweed, killed civilians, raped women and pillaged villages.
Despite previous charges and international concern about the events in Darfur, Bashir was re-elected as president in May and enjoys support within the country. Since the warrant was issued, however, Bashir stays close to him and does not venture out of Africa because of the danger that another ICC member-state may arrest him. On the other hand, several African countries have spoken out against the ICC action as an attempt to impose the will of the West on leaders of smaller nations.
They question why US President George Bush has not been indicted for starting an illegal war in Iraq. Like the US, Sudan is not a member of the ICC and the case was referred to the ICC by the Security Council.
In March 2009, Bashir became the first sitting head of State to be indicted by the ICC. At the time, the court rejected Prosecutor Luis Moreno-Ocampo's application to charge Bashir with genocide, on the grounds that there was not enough evidence.
