(credit: cc-cpi.int)  International Criminal Court Prosecutor Fatou Bensouda presents The-Hague, Netherlands-based war tribunal’s report to the UN Security Council  regarding the situation in Darfur, Sudan  Dec. 10, 2020.

By Gary Raynaldo      DIPLOMATIC TIMES

The International  Criminal Court  arrest warrant against ousted former Sudanese President Omar Al Bashir still remains outstanding .  There are other ICC arrests warrants in Darfur against Ahmad Harun, Abdel Raheem Muhammad Hussein, and Abdallah Banda Abakaer Nourain that remain in full force. ICC Prosecutor Fatou Bensouda appealed to the United Nations and Sudanese authorities to help assure that all the ICC suspects are brought to justice.  Bensouda presented the  ICC’s  thirty-second report regarding the situation in Darfur on Thursday pursuant to the UN Security Council’s Resolution 1593 and briefed the council on recent developments. 

“Allow me to also take this opportunity to stress that the outstanding ICC arrest warrants against Messrs Omar Al Bashir, Ahmad Harun, Abdel Raheem Muhammad Hussein, and Abdallah Banda Abakaer Nourain remain in full force. To date, my Office has not received any official confirmation by the competent authorities of Sudan on what actions they intend to take in relation to the remaining ICC suspects, who, with the exception of Mr Banda, are reportedly in their custody. I take this opportunity to appeal to this Council and through you, to the authorities of the Government of the Sudan, to intensify the dialogue with my Office in relation to these outstanding warrants. We must ensure, with full respect for the principle of complementarity, that all the ICC suspects are brought to justice through fair, objective and independent proceedings, either before the Court, or in Sudanese courts, guided by the requirements of the Rome Statute.”

-ICC Prosecutor Fatou Bensouda

The ICC Prosecutor added  “This Council can play a decisive role in expediting this process and ensuring Sudan’s full, prompt and tangible cooperation with the ICC, consistent with its international obligations. The victims of atrocity crimes in Darfur deserve to finally see real progress in the pursuit of justice.”

ICC Prosecutor Bensouda Calls On Sudan to allow access to the country to pursue investigations. 

“It had been my hope that my team would have travelled to Sudan in November for an operational assessment mission to pave the way for fully fledged investigative activities immediately thereafter. Unfortunately, this mission was postponed at the request of the Sudanese authorities. No new dates have been offered and the window of opportunity to conduct investigations prior to Mr Abd-Al-Rahman’s confirmation of charges hearing is rapidly closing. My office stands ready to work collaboratively with Sudan as it charts its way towards accountability for the atrocity crimes alleged to have been committed in Darfur.”