Bashir Ally Would Prefer ICC To Sudan Court For Darfur Trial

One of the key people accused of war crimes and genocide in Darfur in the early 2000s Ahmed Haroun says he would prefer to be tried in front of the International Criminal Court, ICC.

Expressing a lack of confidence in the country’s Judicial system, Ahmed Haroun, said in a statement that Sudanese courts were biased and would not be able or willing to carry out justice.

He added that it was better for his case to be argued, if there is a case worth arguing, in front of the International Criminal Court.”

In his statement, Haroun said he refused to testify as part of a Sudanese investigation into the Darfur conflict, complaining that he had been detained indefinitely and that many judges and prosecutors had been removed by the transitional government.

While he described the ICC prosecution as politicised, Haroun said he felt he would be more likely to receive a fair trial in The Hague.

Ousted President Omar al-Bashir has for years resisted the ICC warrants against him and four close allies over the conflict in Sudan’s western region that killed an estimated 300,000 people.

They face charges at The Hague of genocide, war crimes and crimes against humanity for atrocities committed by pro-government forces in Darfur beginning in 2002 which drove 2.5 million from their homes.

The ICC issued arrest warrants for Bashir in 2009 and 2010 accusing him of masterminding atrocities in his campaign to crush a revolt in Darfur region.

Sudan’s transitional government, formed after an uprising that removed Bashir and sent him, Haroun, and several others to jail in April 2019, has said it will cooperate with the ICC and ICC officials have visited Sudan.

Another of Bashir’s allies, Ali Kushayb, surrendered to the ICC in the Central African Republic in June.