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Arrest warrants for suspects in Darfur Investigation: CICC and ICC Media Advisories

02 May 2007

On Wednesday, 2 May 2007, the judges of Pre-Trial Chamber I issued arrest warrants for Ahmad Muhammad Harun and Ali Muhammad Al Abd-Al-Rahman, the two individuals named by the Prosecutor of the International Criminal Court (ICC) Luis Moreno-Ocampo in his February filing on the Darfur situation. You may access these documents on the Court's website at: http://www.icc-cpi.int/cases/Darfour/c0205/c0205_all.html Please find below (1) the CICC media advisory and (2) the ICC media advisory, which include additional details. Please take note of the Coalition's policy on situations before the ICC (below), which explicitly states that the CICC will NOT take a position on potential or pending situations before the Court. The Coalition, however, will continue to provide the most up-to-date information about the ICC. Warm Regards, Oriane Maillet, Programme and Communication Assistant, CICC Hague Secretariat ********************************************** A. CICC MEDIA ADVISORY Coalition for the International Criminal Court (CICC), Media Advisory, "ICC judges issue arrest warrants for suspects in Darfur Investigation: Pre-trial Chamber Decision Increases Pressure on Sudan to Cooperate with Court", 2 May 2007, www.coalitionfortheicc.org "WHAT: At approximately 12 a.m. in The Hague on Wednesday, 2 May 2007, the judges of Pre-Trial Chamber I issued arrest warrants for the two individuals named by the Prosecutor of the International Criminal Court (ICC) Luis Moreno-Ocampo in his February filing on the Darfur situation. The Chamber held that there are reasonable grounds to believe that the two suspects - Ahmad Muhammad Harun and Ali Muhammad Al Abd-Al-Rahman - bear criminal responsibility for crimes against humanity and war crimes committed in Darfur in 2003 and 2004. In view of the information provided by the Prosecution, the judges decided to request arrest warrants instead of summons to appear, since they considered that Ahmad Muhammad Harun and Ali Muhammad Al Abd-Al-Rahman would not appear voluntarily before the Court and that their arrests appeared to be necessary at this stage. The two arrest warrants lists 51 counts respectively, including persecution, murder and attacks against civilians, forcible transfer, rape, pillaging, destruction of property, inhumane acts, imprisonment, and torture. WHO: According to the Prosecutor's February application to the Chamber, Ahmad Muhammad Harun is a former minister of state for the Interior of the government of Sudan, and Ali Muhammad Al Abd-Al-Rahman is a militia leader who is more commonly known as "Ali Kushayb" and is reported to be in Sudanese detention. WHY: On 31 March 2005, the United Nations Security Council referred the situation in Darfur, Sudan to the ICC Prosecutor through Resolution 1593, "determining that the situation in Sudan continues to constitute a threat to international peace and security." On 6 June 2005, the ICC Prosecutor officially opened his investigation into the situation of Darfur, which was assigned to Pre-Trial Chamber I. On 27 February 2007, the ICC Prosecutor requested that Pre-Trial Chamber I summon Harun and Kushayb to appear before the Court. FOR ADDITIONAL INFORMATION: Please visit the Coalition's website at http://www.coalitionfortheicc.org/?mod=darfur." ********************************************** B. ICC MEDIA ADVISORY International Criminal Court, Media Advisory, "Warrants of Arrest for the Minister of Humanitarian Affairs of Sudan, and a leader of the Militia/Janjaweed" (ICC-20070502-214-En), 2 May 2007 , http://www.icc-cpi.int/home.html&l=en [Please note that the document below has been produced by the ICC. The Coalition for the ICC distributes it as part of its mandate to keep member organizations and individuals informed about developments related to the ICC. The document does not reflect the views of the CICC as a whole or its individual members.] ICC Press Release / CPI Communiqué de presse [VERSION FRANÇAISE PAR-DESSOUS/?????? ?????? ???????] Warrants of Arrest for the Minister of Humanitarian Affairs of Sudan, and a leader of the Militia/Janjaweed The Hague, 2 May 2007 ICC-20070502-214-En Situation: Darfur (Sudan) Case: The Prosecutor v. Ahmad Muhammad Harun ("Ahmad Harun") and Ali Muhammad Al Abd-Al-Rahman ("Ali Kushayb") On 1st May 2007, Pre-Trial Chamber I issued warrants of arrest for crimes against humanity and war crimes for Ahmad Muhammad Harun, former Minister of State for the Interior of the Government of Sudan and currently Minister of Humanitarian Affairs, and Ali Muhammad Al Abd-Al-Rahman ("Ali Kushayb"), a leader of the Militia/Janjaweed. Having examined the request and evidence submitted by the Prosecutor, the Chamber concluded that "there are reasonable grounds to believe that Ahmad Harun, by virtue of his position, had knowledge of the crimes committed against the civilian population and of the methods used by the Militia/Janjaweed; and that in his public speeches Ahmad Harun not only demonstrated that he knew that the Militia/Janjaweed were attacking civilians and pillaging towns and villages, but also personally encouraging the commission of such illegal acts." Also the Chamber concluded that there are reasonable grounds to believe that Ali Kushayb, leader of the Militia/Janjaweed in the Wadi Salih enlisted fighters, armed, funded and provided supplies to the Militia /Janjaweed under his command thereby intentionally contributing to the commissions of the crimes. He personally participated in some of the attacks against civilians. The Chamber considers that there are reasonable grounds to believe that these persons will not voluntarily present themselves before the Court. Therefore, in order to meet the requirements of the Rome Statute the Chamber has decided to issue warrants of arrest. The Chamber ordered the Registrar to prepare two requests for co-operation seeking the arrest and surrender of Ahmad Harun and Ali Kushayb and containing the relevant information and documents; and to transmit such requests to the competent Sudanese authorities in accordance with rule 176(2) of the Rules of Procedure and Evidence. All States Parties to the Rome Statute will also receive the information as well as all United Nations Security Council members that are not States Parties to the Rome Statute; and to Egypt, Eritrea, Ethiopia and Libya. BACKGROUND According to the findings of the Chamber, an armed conflict took place between the Government of Sudan including combatants from the Sudan People's Armed Forces ("the Sudanese Armed Forces") and the Popular Defence Force (the "PDF") along with the Militia/Janjaweed against organised rebel groups, including the Sudanese Liberation Movement/Army (SLM/A) and the Justice and Equality Movement (JEM) in Darfur, Sudan. It is alleged that the Sudanese Armed Forces and the Militia/Janjaweed, acting together as part of the counter-insurgency campaign, carried out several attacks on the towns of Kodoom, Bindisi, Mukjar, Arawala and surrounding areas in 2003 and 2004. In the above mentioned towns criminal acts were committed against civilians primarily from the Fur, Zaghawa and Masalit populations. Ahmad Harun served from 2003 to 2005 as Minister of the State for the Interior of the Government of Sudan and he was in charge of the management of the "Darfur Security desk" thereby co-ordinating the different bodies of the Government involved in the counter-insurgency, including the Police, the Armed Forces, the National Security and Intelligence Service and the Militia/Janjaweed. Ali Kushayb was one of the most senior leaders in the Militia/Janjaweed and member of the PDF. He was perceived as the "mediator" between the leaders of the Militia/Janjaweed and the Government of Sudan. The Counts The warrant of arrest for Ahmad Muhammad Harun lists 42 counts on the basis of his individual criminal responsibility (Articles 25(3)(b) and 25(3)(d) of the Rome Statute) including: * Twenty counts of crimes against humanity (murder - articles 7(1)(a) and 25(3)(d); persecution - articles 7(1)(h) and 25(3)(d); forcible transfer of population - articles 7(1)(d) and 25(3)(d); rape - articles 7(1)(g) and 25(3)(d); inhumane acts - articles 7(1)(k) and 25(3)(d); imprisonment or severe deprivation of liberty - articles 7(1)(e) and 25(3)(d); and torture - articles 7(1)(f)) and 25(3)(d); and * Twenty-two counts of war crimes (murder - articles 8(2)(c)(i) and 25(3)(d); attacks against the civilian population - articles 8(2)(e)(i) and 25(3)(d); destruction of property - articles 8(2)(e)(xii) and 25(3)(d); rape - articles 8(2)(e)(vi) and 25(3)(d); pillaging (articles 8(2)(e)(v) and 25(3)(d); and outrage upon personal dignity - articles 8(2)(c)(ii) and 25(3)(d)). The warrant of arrest for Ali Kushayb lists 50 counts on the basis of his individual criminal responsibility (article 25(3)(a) and 25 (3)(d) of the Rome Statute) including: * Twenty-two counts of crimes against humanity (murder-article 7(1)(a); deportation or forcible transfer of population-article 7(1)(d); imprisonment or other severe deprivation of physical liberty in violation of fundamental rules of international law-article 7(1)(e); tortures-article 7(1)(f); persecution-article 7(1)(h); inhumane acts of inflicting serious bodily injury and suffering - article 7(1)(k)) * Twenty-eight counts of war crimes (violence to life and person - article 8(2)(c)(i); outrage upon personal dignity in particular humiliating and degrading treatment-article 8(2)( c)(ii); intentionally directing an attack against a civilian population - article 8(2)(e)(i); pillaging - article 8(2)(e)(v); rape-article 8(2)(e)(vi); destroying or seizing the property -article 8(2)(e)(xii)). For further information please contact Claudia Perdomo +31(0)70 515-8514 or [email protected] For the decisions and background information please visit the ICC website: www.icc-cpi.int