Serious concerns about harrassment faced by persons suspected of supporting or cooperating with the International Criminal Court in Sudan
| Publisher | International Federation for Human Rights |
| Publication Date | 2 February 2009 |
| Cite as | International Federation for Human Rights, Serious concerns about harrassment faced by persons suspected of supporting or cooperating with the International Criminal Court in Sudan, 2 February 2009, available at: https://www.refworld.org/docid/49885789c.html [accessed 24 May 2023] |
| Disclaimer | This is not a UNHCR publication. UNHCR is not responsible for, nor does it necessarily endorse, its content. Any views expressed are solely those of the author or publisher and do not necessarily reflect those of UNHCR, the United Nations or its Member States. |
FIDH is concerned about the repeated attacks against persons suspected of supporting or cooperating with the International Criminal Court (ICC), which have been registered in Sudan over the last months.
On 28 January 2009, Mohammed Al-Sari, a Sudanese citizen, was convicted to 17 years in prison on charges of having attempted to assist the ICC to investigate a Minister suspected of war crimes and crimes against humanity committed in Darfur. Mohammed Al-Sari was arrested in June, accused of "collecting and intending to leak police records and documents", in particular information about special police forces in Darfur, which are under the supervision of Ahmed Haroun, current Minister of State for Humanitarian Affairs, who is sought by the ICC. The judge responsible for the case at the court in Khartoum North found him guilty of spying, conspiracy and threat to national security.
"This conviction sadly illustrates the campaign of President Al-Bashir and the Sudanese government against the ICC and those it perceives as supporting the International Criminal Court and justice in Darfur", declared Souhayr Belhassen, President of FIDH.
Earlier this month, Sudan's prominent opposition leader Hassan Al-Turabi was arrested after he called on Al-Bashir to surrender to the ICC for atrocities in Darfur. Last November, three prominent human rights defenders were also arrested and two of them tortured, on account that they were cooperating with the ICC.
This crackdown on Sudanese suspected of "supporting" the ICC, is the Sudanese government's reaction to the ICC Prosecutor's request, submitted to the ICC judges on 14 July 2008, to issue an arrest warrant against President al-Bashir. The judges' decision to confirm or not this request is expected to be handed down shortly. Previously, on 27 April 2007, the ICC issued two arrest warrants against Ahmed Harun (current Minister for Humanitarian Affairs) and Ali Kushayb (Janjaweed militia leader). FIDH has repeteadly denounced the fact that the Sudanese authorities have not arrested these two men, and have even been openly protecting them.
FIDH urges the international community to react promptly to protect the victims of such harassement and condemn the campaign led by President Al-Bashir. The international community should support the efforts of the ICC to bring justice to Sudan and strongly condemn all attempts of the Sudanese government to impede justice for victims of the deadly conflict in Darfur.
