President Omar Al-Bashir of Sudan. UN Photo/Eskinder Debebe
16 July 2013 – The International Criminal Court (ICC)
requested Nigeria to arrest Sudanese President Omar Al-Bashir, who is
wanted for alleged war crimes, crimes against humanity and genocide,
while he is on a visit to Abuja and surrender him to the Court.
In March 2009, ICC judges issued arrest warrants against Mr. Al-Bashir
for crimes allegedly committed in the Sudanese region of Darfur, where
an estimated 300,000 people have died since 2003 due to fighting between
rebel groups and Government forces and their allies, militiamen known
as the Janjaweed.
Mr. Al-Bashir was reportedly in Nigeria for an African health summit that concluded today.
Nigeria is a State party to the Rome Statute that established the ICC,
and has the obligation to execute the Court's orders, according to a news release issued by the Court.
Under the Rome Statute, States that fail to comply with a request to
cooperate with the Court may be referred to the Assembly of States
Parties or to the Security Council.
Since the arrest warrants were issued, Mr. Al-Bashir has travelled to a
number of African countries that are parties to the Rome Statute, all of
whom have failed to arrest the Sudanese leader and surrender him to the
Court.
Located in The Hague, in the Netherlands, the ICC is an independent,
permanent court that tries persons accused of the most serious crimes of
international concern – namely genocide, crimes against humanity and
war crimes – if national authorities with jurisdiction are unwilling or
unable to do so genuinely.
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